“Shop Till Ya Drop” at Anacostia Art Gallery and Boutique: The Beloved Store Has Returned To Congress

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Juanita Britton says, “Let’s decorate for the holidays!” Kim Johnson, Urban Oasis Photography

“Shop Till Ya Drop” at Anacostia Art Gallery and Boutique

The Beloved Store Has Returned To Congress Heights

On September 14, 2014, Juanita Britton, owner of the Anacostia Gallery and Boutique, led a community procession through the streets of Fort Stanton to officially relocate the gallery’s cherished ancestral garden. Britton had sold her gallery which was located on Bruce Street next to Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, as well as several adjoining parcels of land to a developer. Presently, Rocketship Rise Academy Public Charter School occupies some of the land she once owned. However, Britton had no intention of leaving the area. As she put it, “I live East of the River and I still own other property here.”

A dynamic entrepreneur, Britton owns and operates stores in several area airports. Prior to the pandemic, Britton split her time between her home in DC and her seaside residence in Fort Lauderdale, Florida while traveling around the globe. She is especially fond of travelling to support local artisans. “I visit people in indigenous communities from around the world to source their art which I sell in the boutique.” Proceeds from the sales provide living wages to artisans who live in developing economies. In the last 40 years, Britton has travelled extensively throughout Africa and has visited 39 countries. However, she is especially close to Ghana, where she is enstooled as a queen mother in the village of Timber Junction, population 500, located an hour outside the capital of Accra. As the pandemic brought travel to a halt, Britton’s life changed in an instant. She almost got stuck in Ghana as quarantines were ordered and flights were grounded. Her airport businesses closed since no one was allowed to travel. An event space she had started in Miami was shuttered. A restaurant start-up in Istanbul, Turkey, had to be shelved. Turning to DC where Britton landed during the pandemic, she began to envision how her property at 119 Raleigh Street SE, which she affectionately calls “an Airbnb for artists,” could help resident artists sell their work. This led to the rebirth of the Anacostia Art Gallery and Boutique or as Britton explains: “The artists who were staying there had an idea for people to come by and buy art and spend money on Black businesses and to support artists and artisans during the pandemic.”

By making the best of this new situation and by working together with local makers and artists, Britton ultimately continued doing what she loves—offering handmade items created by local, national and global artists. “It wasn’t just for artists but a mental pivot for me because the airport businesses were closed.”

by Phil Hutinet