C O V E R
S T O R Y
Representing the Underrepresented UNREPD creates space for artists and collectors of color PHOTOS CREDIT: ACE MISIUNAS
Sarah Griffin and Tricia Beanum are the founders of UNREPD, a place where BIPOC, women and nonbinary artists can display their work and where visitors of color can start the journey toward being art collectors. By Bridgette M. Redman ometimes a connection is so serendipitous that it simply must lead to greater collaborations. This was the case for Sarah Griffin and Tricia Beanum, and the reason that they opened an art sales enterprise that was a combination of both their works. Griffin, who recently moved to Venice, met Beanum through an artist they were both working with in 2019 and the similarities were striking. Both were passionate about art, both were business owners, both were from Puerto Rico, both had Ivy League educations, and they even had sons
S
with the same name. Both were also committed to seeing that underrepresented artists got a fairer shake in the art world. The result? UNREPD, a place where BIPOC, women and nonbinary artists can display their work and where visitors of color can start the journey toward being art collectors. Part gallery, part furniture warehouse and part consultancy, it makes art comfortable for those who don’t feel at ease in conventional galleries. Griffin was the founder of Art House Market, an art consultancy firm that helped people buy art, and Beanum was the owner of Pop Up Home, a
PAGE 14 THE ARGONAUT FEBRUARY 24, 2022
vintage designer furniture and décor warehouse. They found their two businesses merged perfectly to create UNREPD. The business offered a safe space for artists and new and experienced collectors. Their meeting originally came about when Beanum was selling the work of a contemporary painter that Griffin was interested in for a couple of her clients. They talked a few times and then met in person. “The conversation flowed so effortlessly, and it was incredible,” Griffin said of their first meeting. “We were really on the same page about the challenges for people of color. We knew
immediately we wanted to work together in some capacity.” Despite being in the middle of a pandemic, they found the time was right to open UNREPD. Griffin pointed out that the pandemic was a crazy and interesting time for creative people because they were forced to go into their hole in a way that made people focus. One of the interesting things that came out of it was their art sales enterprise, a gallery that breaks the usual mold of what a gallery is. “The idea was that we wanted to create a platform for artists to be seen, a place where collectors of color and other collec-
tors who might just be starting their collection would be comfortable buying art,” Griffin said. Both had the experience of going into traditional, white box galleries and being made to feel uncomfortable and unwanted. So, they started their version of a gallery in the same space as the pop-up home. Because the place is filled with furniture — one-of-a-kind furniture that is art in its own right — collectors are encouraged to sit and relax, to see art as it might look in their own home. “We realized quickly that here were interesting conversations we could make between the
