When it comes to infiltrating spaces that she was never supposed to be in, Karimah McFarlane says it is crucial to never count her out.
“I think throughout my life and just how I’ve grown up and regardless of what space I’ve been in, I’ve always been the person that was unexpected to be in that space,” said McFarlane who is the new owner of Buckhead Art & Co., an art gallery tucked away in the heart of one of Atlanta’s most upscale areas.
“Every area, whether it be professionally, whether it was the cheerleading team, whether it was when I got married when I had kids, the schools I go to, the clothes that I wear, I would always say, ‘Don’t count her out,’” she continued. “Because you just don’t know what you’re gonna get.”
During her quest to create community, McFarlane has now found herself as an entrepreneur in the art space, helping artists by building a safe space for them to be free.
“I’ve always been on a journey to create community and to create joy, that’s why I chose the schools I went to, that’s why I’m a part of the organizations that I’m a part of,” McFarlane explained. “And I just wanted a space where I could create joy and community. I’ve always loved art, I’ve always been into that type of culture, and what’s more joyous than wine and art? To me, having a gallery where I can bring people together and have community under this premise of joy was really what it was all about.”
For McFarlane, she finds happiness in using her space to give back to people who are traditionally marginalized, allowing them to focus on their creativity while she puts her business wits to use on their behalf.
“Being able to highlight people and let them do what they do best as the artists and not having to worry about the business aspect, asking themselves, ‘How do I make money from this?’” she said. “Just letting them create and show their representation of joy and knowing that I have their back is how I create joy in this space.”
A woman of many firsts, McFarlane also explained the nuances that went into stepping into an ownership space of this caliber.
“So, I am a first-generation college graduate. I am a first generation of all things. Homeowner, like, all of the things you can think of? That is me. I’m first generation and I think the struggles with owning this particular space are the same struggles that I think that most African American or marginalized people have felt in the United States,” McFarlane expressed.
She continued: “I don’t know what I don’t know./ I don’t have an uncle, cousin, sister, friend, or immediate family member that I can say, ‘Hey, you got $20,000 because we didn’t make sales today, right? I don’t have investors, and I like to tell people that all the time, because I think there’s a misconception that, like, there’s this pot of gold somewhere. This is a Black-owned business. A female-owned business that was purchased and run through my dollars. This is my money. So when there’s a sale or not a sale, it is my dollar. Every check that’s being written to my team is my dollar so I take it very seriously.”
What’s more, McFarlane expressed that the hardest part of it all is getting people to understand that there’s not an unlimited check.
“I think the biggest lesson that I’ve learned thus far, and every day is a lesson, right, is that I can do it. Because, I didn’t go to SCAD, or I’m not an artist, or I don’t have all of the resources that people have… there’s this imposter syndrome like I couldn’t do it,” she shared. “Or, maybe this person does know more than me. I think that there have been circumstances where my gut feeling was saying, ‘No, we shouldn’t do it that way,’ and because I had that imposter syndrome, I listened to another individual and it wasn’t my best work.”
Like anyone else, McFarlane finds herself grappling with that imposter syndrome but says it all boils back to her sentiment of encouraging folks not to count her out.
‘This is not the first time I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be somewhere and I celebrate the small wins with my team,” she said. “As silly as it sounds, every time we get 100 followers it’s like shot-o’clock, we got another 100 followers, and for some people, it’s like, ‘It’s just 100 followers,’ but for us, it’s like reassuring that, wow, there are 100 human souls who thought enough about what we’ve done to continue to follow it. For some, it’s small, but for me, that’s 100 more people on my team because they don’t have to follow me. They don’t have to come through our gallery. And so, it’s been a bit over 90 days so that’s how we do it, we celebrate the small wins.”
Looking ahead, McFarlane sees Buckhead Art & Co. as a launching pad for artists and encourages anyone in the Atlanta space to come by to check out the gallery or click HERE to stay up to date with the various events held at the business to continue her love and dreams of building a community that aims to create a better future for people who look like her.
