Charlotte Collects: Black Collectors on Contemporary Art

Charlotte Collects in a series of programs in partnership with Charlotte arts organizations to discuss the practice of collecting art across different mediums and perspectives.

The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Anita N. Bateman, Vice President of Creative Direction at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. The panelists include:

• Elliot Perry, Retired NBA Player & Philanthropic Leader
• CCH Pounder, Award-Winning Actress
• Everette Taylor, CEO of Kickstarter

Doors open: 6 pm

Panel discussion: 6:30 pm

Gantt Center Harper-Roddey Society members have exclusive access to free tickets for this program. Members should receive a private promo code via email to claim their free tickets through Eventbrite. Gantt Center membership presents several VIP opportunities throughout the year. Click/tap here to learn more about becoming a member.

Elliot Perry is a dedicated collector whose holdings rank among the most significant collections of contemporary art by African American and African diasporic artists in the United States. Over the past three decades, he and his wife, Kimberly, have built a collection defined by discernment and sustained commitment, while supporting artists and arts organizations that contribute to a more vibrant and inclusive cultural landscape in Memphis. Their collection has been widely recognized through publications and exhibitions, including presentations at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Flint Institute of Arts in 2014. In 2022, Perry was honored by the Museum of Modern Art and its Black Arts Council.

A Memphis native, Perry graduated from Treadwell High School in 1987 and the University of Memphis in 1991, where he played collegiate basketball. After earning a degree in marketing, he was selected in the second round of the 1991 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers and went on to play professionally for a decade, including a season with the Charlotte Hornets (1991–1992). Following his retirement, he served as a player representative for the National Basketball Players Association in 2004 and, in 2005, joined the ownership group of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Perry currently resides in Germantown, Tennessee, and remains engaged in philanthropic and civic leadership. His work includes the Poplar Foundation, which supports educational access for underserved communities. He also serves as board chair of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation, providing mentorship opportunities for local youth, and holds board positions with the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis Athletic Ministries, and New Hope Christian Academy.

The Perrys’ collecting philosophy is grounded in a broader cultural mission: to document, sustain, and carry forward African American history and visual culture for future generations.

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Award-winning actress CCH Pounder has built a distinguished career across film and television. She will soon appear in Cape Fear for Apple TV+ and The Terror: Devil in Silver for AMC. Her recent work includes Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Naked Gun, Rustin, and the series Full Circle, 3 Body Problem, and Black Cake, as well as Avatar: The Way of Water. Pounder is widely recognized for her role as Dr. Loretta Wade on NCIS: New Orleans, which she portrayed for seven seasons. Her extensive television credits also include The Shield, The Good Fight, Sons of Anarchy, Law & Order: SVU, and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the latter earning her a fourth Emmy® nomination.

Over the course of her career, Pounder has received multiple honors, including Emmy® nominations for her performances in ER and The X-Files, as well as a Grammy® nomination for Best Spoken Word Album. Her film work spans decades and includes Bagdad Café, Prizzi’s Honor, Postcards from the Edge, Face/Off, and Orphan.

Born in Georgetown, Guyana, Pounder has been recognized for her cultural contributions both nationally and internationally. In 2016, she received the Cacique’s Crown of Honour, one of Guyana’s highest national awards, and in 2023 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Guyana. A graduate of Ithaca College, she has also been honored by the institution with a Doctor of Fine Arts degree and its Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to her acting career, Pounder is an active advocate and supporter of the arts. She serves on the board of the African Millennium Foundation and was a founding member of Artists for a New South Africa. Her contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Visionary Leadership Award in Performing Arts from the Museum of the African Diaspora.

Pounder is also a committed patron and collector. Her collection focuses on artists from the Caribbean, Africa, and the African diaspora, with an emphasis on contemporary art alongside traditional African sculpture. In 1992, she and her late husband, Boubacar Koné, founded the Musée Boribana, the first privately owned contemporary art museum in Dakar, which they gifted to the nation of Senegal in 2014. In 2022, she was named a Commander of the National Order of the Lion, Senegal’s highest honor.

Pounder’s personal collection includes more than 500 works, many of which have been presented in exhibitions at institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, among others. Through both her artistic and philanthropic work, she continues to support and advance the visibility of artists of the African diaspora.

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Everette Taylor is the Chief Executive Officer of Kickstarter, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform for creative projects. Under his leadership, Kickstarter was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential Companies, recognizing its global impact within the creator economy. Taylor has also been named to Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 for leading the company’s brand transformation and growth, and to the Time100 Next list as an emerging leader shaping the future.

Taylor serves on the Board of Directors of 1stDibs and has been recognized by BoardProspects as one of the “100 Black Board Members Making a Difference.”

Prior to joining Kickstarter, Taylor served as Chief Marketing Officer of Artsy, where he led significant growth in revenue and brand visibility. During his tenure, he was named by Forbes as one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs.

Earlier in his career, Taylor held leadership roles across technology and marketing, contributing to the successful acquisitions of companies including Skurt and Qualaroo. He co-founded GrowthHackers, served as Chief Marketing Officer of Sticker Mule, and led growth strategy for emerging social products at Microsoft.

As an entrepreneur, Taylor founded his first company, EZ Events, at age nineteen, later selling the business in 2011. In 2013, he established ET Enterprises, a portfolio of ventures including PopSocial, MilliSense, and ArtX. As Chief Executive Officer of PopSocial, he was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2018 for his work in social media marketing.

Taylor has received honorary doctorate degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and Shaw University.

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Dr. Anita N. Bateman is Vice President of Creative Direction at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+ Culture, where she leads the creative vision and strategic direction of exhibitions, collections, curatorial initiatives, educational programming, marketing, and public engagement, as well as key institutional partnerships.

With over a decade of curatorial experience, Bateman has contributed to exhibitions, publications, and acquisitions that foreground the breadth of modern and contemporary art. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Art History and Visual Culture from Duke University, and earned her B.A. in Art History, cum laude, from Williams College. She has held curatorial roles at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, the Williams College Museum of Art, and the Nasher Museum of Art.

Her research has been supported by organizations including the American Council of Learned Societies, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council. Bateman was an ARCAthens Curatorial Fellow and a 2022 Graham Foundation grantee for the publication Where Is Africa, co-edited with Emanuel Admassu (Center for Art, Research, and Alliances).

Her research interests include the history of photography, Black feminist and womanist theory, and the role of social media in activism and liberation practices.

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