In 1974, Linda Goode Bryant, an arts professional who had worked at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem, founded the Just Above Midtown Gallery (JAM) in the then heart of New York’s commercial art world on West 57th Street. JAM’s mission was to provide a platform for the exhibition and sale of work by black women artists equal to the venues available to their white counterparts. The gallery focused on artists working in noncommercial, nonrepresentational styles, including Howardena Pindell (top left), Lorraine O’Grady (top right), Maren Hassinger (bottom left), and Senga Nengudi (bottom right).
In 1977, JAM moved to Tribeca. While the relocation was forced by rent increases, it was also motivated by a desire to join a more like-minded part of the art world. On 57th Street, the goal had ben to cultivate a black collector base to create financial sustainability for the gallery and its artists, as well as to empower black participation in the mainstream art world. Downtown, JAM continued to operate as a commercial space, but Bryant and her cohorts prioritized live events, including performances, group meals, readings, and lectures, eventually making the transition to a nonprofit gallery.
As part of the downtown alternative space movement until its closing in 1986, JAM championed “new concepts and materials,” eventually showing the work of artists of all races and collaborating with other downtown spaces. Bryant described JAM as a “laboratory” and provided her artists with a monthly stipend to free them from both the financial concerns and constraints of the market.
