Museum for Black Girls Returns in Five Points Location
Ariyuan Monet
Charlie Billingsley, creator of Denver’s very first Museum for Black Girls, has been a creative and photographer since she was in high school. As a mother of two, she has shown her daughter and son, the importance of believing in your dreams and never giving up. What began as a project between Billingsley and three other photographers manifested into a reality much more abundant than she anticipated.
In 2018, Billingsley collaborated with some local black models to create a calendar titled: “Melanin Magic - The Bloom''. It was a one-day event, the 4 photographers got to work and made a product worth celebrating. The calendar’s success birthed a new idea. Billingsley decided to create a mysterious event in September 2019, titled: “Museum for Black Girls'' without making a formal announcement.
She did this to see the organic response from the community, but that ended up being a great marketing strategy.
Having almost forgotten about the event, she was surprised to learn, 1,300 people had marked “interested” as their response to the event. Unsure of where to go from there, she just went! She began brainstorming, planning and putting her ideas into action. At the time, a friend of hers had a boutique and lent the space to her. December, 21 2019 was the decided launch date for the “Museum for Black Girls' '. In Billingsley’s mind, this was going to be a one-time event hosted for two weeks but due to its popularity, it was extended two more weeks and she was later offered a historic home in Park Hill as a permanent location.
However, this offer came only one day before COVID-19 shut the city down last March. COVID-19 restricted activities like the Museum for Black Girls and made the permanent location no longer a reality.
Throughout the pandemic, Billingsley’s primary focus was on her family’s well-being and health. However in January, a news reporter reached out to Billingsley for a story on the Museum, a museum that was at the time all stored away. Pride wouldn’t allow her to tell the reporter there wasn’t a museum anymore.
So she connected with Tim Sack, an Activation Director from Reactiv, a company that helps creators connect with other creators. With his assistance, they stood up an entire pop-up museum created in two weeks! Local artists were given only three days to submit their work if they wanted to be featured in this event, but that didn't stop an abundance of submissions. Because there were so many submissions that couldn't all be reviewed or featured in this time crunch, Billingsley knew she would have to do more pop-ups or get something more consistent and reliable. Tim also helped her get this space in the RiNo arts district and Billingsley decided to take a leap of faith and invest in the space.
February 18th was the official first day of her grand re-opening to Denver’s only, “Museum for Black Girls''. Billingsley credits her family like her Aunt Von, close friends, her team of artists and creatives, & neighbors like False Ego, AE and Tim Sack for their help in the last few weeks. They helped setting up art, connecting Billingsley to more creatives, and doing “handy” work.
Since this launch only a few weeks ago, Blue Magic, a hair care company has become an official partner and sponsor of the museum. There is now a Blue Magic exhibit in the museum. Billingsley and Blue Magic are still working out the details to this partnership but Billingsley knows she definitely wants to create a scholarship program for Black Girls from this opportunity. More details to come.
When asked about the controversy in the name or questions like, “We don't see a Museum for White Girls, why does there have to be a museum for Black Girls?” Billingsley proudly says, “There are so many spaces white people can go and feel safe, be celebrated, celebrate their culture and American history. It is not often we walk in a space let alone, a museum and see a beautiful black girl!” This museum was initially intended to be a creative space but quickly transformed into a place where we can go to be that awkward black girl, wear our hair unapologetically and not be chastised or questioned. A place where we are celebrated and honored. A place for black women and girls to just simply be. Community has found a safe haven in this museum, a place to go when we need a reminder of our beauty, resilience and strength.
Billingsley wants to emphasize this dream has been self-funded and she is seeking investors, donations and any local funding possible to pay her artists and keep this space up, running and filled with new art! Balancing motherhood and chasing a dream hasn't been easy and she knows, “[her] children have sacrificed so much for [her]”. But she hopes watching her juggle her dreams plus regular life will inspire them to do the same. The museum is open Tuesday-Friday 11-7pm, Saturday 12-8pm, and Sunday from 12-6pm. Admission for adults is $25 and children $15. The new location is at 1421 26th Street, Denver Colorado, 80205.
Learn more at www.themuseumforblackgirls.com