Ella West Gallery

05/14/2026

Art collecting does not begin with a title, a price point, or a perfectly curated wall. It begins with instinct.

You have a perspective. You have a lived experience. You know what feels good to share your space with. And that is where collecting starts.

Whether it is your first original work, a piece that reminds you of home, or something you simply cannot stop thinking about, collecting is about building a relationship with the objects, stories, and artists that move you.

Every collection starts somewhere. Sometimes with one piece. Sometimes with the realization that what you choose to live with says something meaningful about who you are. At Ella West Gallery, we believe collecting is for anyone willing to trust their eye and honor what resonates.

Photo featuring artwork by Lamar Whidbee, placed by Ella West Gallery into the collection of Martina and Dwayne Ballen

05/12/2026

As one of Cuba’s most renowned abstractionists, Rigoberto Mena (Artemisa, Cuba, 1961) utilizes color and gesture to give immense feeling in more abstract pieces calling to human emotion. Through the eyes of an abstract expressionist, he draws inspiration from his home’s urban landscapes and the spirit of Cuba and its people.

In 2011 Mena was selected to be part of the collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba, after the success of solo exhibition Hablando en Lenguas; his artwork is also shown in the collection of the Museum of Latin American Art, in Los Angeles (MOLAA), USA, Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plasticas, in La Habana, Cuba, and Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Wifredo Lam, in La Habana, Cuba, and he has been widely shown across China, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Spain, France, Holland and within the United States including Miami, Boston, Washington, D.C., and California.

Mena utilizes color and gesture to give immense feeling in more abstract pieces calling to human emotion. Mena brings influences from the urban architectural cityscapes of his native Cuba into his body of abstract work, working from the field of inner emotion over strict rationality. His abstract expressionism speaks in the language of expressive brushstrokes and textured canvases. 

Image 1 - Linda Shropshire and Rigoberto Mena
Image 2 - Rigoberto Mena, Untitled, 2026 (new work available for sale, inquire via DM)

05/08/2026

That small red dot carries a much bigger meaning than a sale.

In the life of an artwork, the red “sold” dot marks a moment of stewardship. It signals that a collector has chosen to live with a work, care for it, and become part of its story. For the artist, it represents validation and momentum. For Ella West Gallery, it reflects the trust required to place the right work with the right collector at the right moment.

A red dot is not the end of the journey. It is the beginning of a new chapter, one that connects artists, collectors, and institutions in the shared work of sustaining culture.
That is art stewardship in practice: not simply acquiring art, but helping build
the relationships and support systems that allow creative ecosystems to thrive.

05/05/2026

Ella West is evolving into:

✔️ Art Advisory
✔️ Institutional Placement Strategy
✔️ Private Collector Development
✔️ Artist Career Coaching

This is what expansion looks like.

04/30/2026

Growth isn’t loud. It’s layered.

Thank you to every artist, collector, and believer who has built this with us.

04/28/2026

A work placed. A collector moved. A gift made to a major institution.

At Ella West Gallery, we believe collecting is not ownership. It is guardianship. When a collector chooses to gift a work into an institutional collection, they are not just donating art; they are preserving narrative.

Inspired by their visits to major exhibitions like “American Sublime” at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Dan Johnson and Lisa Pizzagalli shared images like these that informed our ongoing conversations and led to their recent gift of Steven M. Cozart’s “The Pencil Test: Elijah” to the North Carolina Museum of Art.

This is what art stewardship looks like. This is what we are building at Ella West.

More to come.

Photos:
1 and 2: Collectors Dan Johnson and Lisa Pizzagalli
3: “The Pencil Test: Elijah”

02/18/2026

Through our focus on art advisory and artist development, we are excited to share the important acquisition of artist Steven M. Cozart’s “The Pencil Test: Elijah.” Stay tuned to learn how and when this portrait will be on view to the public as a powerful act of reclamation, amplifying the voices of those too often silenced, and honoring the nuances of Black lived experience. 

“The Pencil Test: Elijah” draws from a legacy where a simple pencil could separate lives, rewrite lineage, and redefine Blackness. Part of a series honoring and interrogating the history of The Pencil Test, this piece references a method once used to assess Afro-textured hair. In the test, a pencil is pushed through a person’s hair; how easily it passes through determines whether the individual “passes” or “fails.”

Originating as a tool of racial classification during apartheid in South Africa, the pencil test was used to distinguish between Whites, Coloreds, and Blacks, dividing families and communities. In the United States, the concept of the pencil test echoes within Black American communities, where hair texture has long been a point of tension, identity, and exclusion. Cozart highlights how Black hair, particularly in its natural state, can function as a ‘codec’, a quick signifier that shapes perception, belonging, and bias both within and beyond the Black community.

02/14/2026

Putting the ART in heart: We are celebrating this day of love through the outpouring of encouragement surrounding this new season of Ella West Gallery.

We are so energized for the year ahead and have an exciting acquisition announcement coming that encapsulates our focus on strategy, education, and creative leadership through The Black Wall Street Arts Project and our art advisory and artist development services.

Stay tuned for more and learn more about our new phase as ellawestgallery.com.

Photos by Morgan Crutchfield.

12/09/2025

12/03/2025

In celebration of December exhibition Continuum: Echoes and Evolution, join us on Thursday, December 11, 2025, for an evening focused on the power of paying it forward.

This Artist Talk features exhibition artists Steven Cozart, Isabel Lu and Zaire in conversation about the importance of mentorship in the art journey.

More information:
Thursday, December 11
6-6:30 pm: Social and network with artists
6:30-7:30 pm: Artist conversion
Free, no registration required