Art gallery brings Africa to El Paso
EL PASO, Texas -- Kimberly McDaniel grew up in an artistic home. Her dad was an artist, which is how she found her love for art.
"One of the things I always wanted to do was have my own art gallery," McDaniel said.
An art collecting passion turned into a business. One that will extend through generations of the McDaniel family. McDaniel opened JMM Gallery in May 2019 with her own savings. "All of my granddaughters are under the age of 10 so this is actually for them," she said.
JMM Gallery Is a place where the community can go to appreciate or even buy African American art. "Bringing awareness to the beauty of being Black, being African," McDaniel said.
McDaniel said, "We're very creative, we have a story to tell." McDaniel connects with African American artists and buys their art through social media.
She says it can be time-consuming but is not the most challenging part of her business. McDaniel says one of the most challenging things about owning a business is the workload.
“You don’t get to get tired, I'm doing it by myself and I'm doing it because I love it but you get tired," McDaniel said.
She says her work means a lot to her because she uses it to honor her dad. "You know he was the artist and it's just like 'Hey dad, look what I'm doing.'," said McDaniel.
McDaniel finds running an art gallery fulfilling but she wants to do more. She's building freshwater wells in Africa with proceeds from her art sales.
“The next step is to get the non-profit up and running”, McDaniel says. That nonprofit is called "Us, We, Ours." McDaniel plans to use it to connect Africa to America.
