Steven CW Taylor
Owner of Ubuntu Fine Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In the heart of Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood, Steven CW Taylor is bending the trajectory of the art world by investing in the community he grew up in. A globetrotting fine art photographer, Steven is deeply invested in the African philosophy of Ubuntu — the interconnectedness that unites all people. His Ubuntu Fine Art gallery aims to live up to its name by creating more equity and access within the arts.
Making art accessible is fundamental because, Steven says, “Art is the vehicle in which you can produce new questions for yourself, that can broaden your perspective on the world.” If emerging artists and curators can’t show their work, he worries, how will they develop the questions needed to propel the art world forward?
Steven’s multipurpose, high-end gallery offers several solutions. Ubuntu is a viewing space for his own work, as well as a photography studio. It’s a full-service events center and a community hub that makes art accessible to the neighborhood. And it’s a homebase for Ubuntu's innovative artists’ and curatorial residency program.
Ubuntu's residency model offers exhibition space with a variety of mentorship and hands-on support baked in for a flat fee, so creatives can show work, gain skills and experience, make connections, and develop their ideas — all while keeping their commissions. “We can create a pipeline for curators and artists who know exactly what they're doing,” he says, “and this is how we make equity within the larger space of museums.”
On the other side of the equation is just who feels comfortable entering art spaces. “We need the residents within the city to have a stake in what the larger art world looks like,” Steven says. By positioning his gallery as a Germantown community hub, he’s removing some of the trepidation around the art-viewing experience and inviting low-income folks to see themselves as stakeholders in the arts scene.
What’s more, Steven has worked hard to make Ubuntu the nicest gallery space in the city. It’s important to him that Germantown’s low-income and Black residents get to experience "luxury that doesn’t ask them for anything in return." He hopes the idea catches on, creating a network of fine art galleries in urban spaces — community access points that push art into the future.
It takes money to create an elevated gallery space, but traditional banks couldn’t get behind a new business with such a bold vision. So, Steven capitalized on a partnership between crowdfunding investment platform Honeycomb Credit and DreamSpring, which provided him with nearly $27,000 in matching funds to fuel the business. “I feel very responsible to both my Honeycomb investors and to DreamSpring to ensure that I make this vision work."
Steven is reaping rewards in his personal life, too. Being his own boss means he can pick up his 7-year-old daughter from the school bus stop every day. That’s the ubuntu spirit in action, and DreamSpring’s belief in Steven CW Taylor is part of the continuum. “I've felt like a person and not a number,” he says. “There’s appreciation for my business, for my story, for me, and for my community of Germantown.”
Making art accessible is fundamental because, Steven says, “Art is the vehicle in which you can produce new questions for yourself, that can broaden your perspective on the world.” If emerging artists and curators can’t show their work, he worries, how will they develop the questions needed to propel the art world forward?
Steven’s multipurpose, high-end gallery offers several solutions. Ubuntu is a viewing space for his own work, as well as a photography studio. It’s a full-service events center and a community hub that makes art accessible to the neighborhood. And it’s a homebase for Ubuntu's innovative artists’ and curatorial residency program.
Ubuntu's residency model offers exhibition space with a variety of mentorship and hands-on support baked in for a flat fee, so creatives can show work, gain skills and experience, make connections, and develop their ideas — all while keeping their commissions. “We can create a pipeline for curators and artists who know exactly what they're doing,” he says, “and this is how we make equity within the larger space of museums.”
On the other side of the equation is just who feels comfortable entering art spaces. “We need the residents within the city to have a stake in what the larger art world looks like,” Steven says. By positioning his gallery as a Germantown community hub, he’s removing some of the trepidation around the art-viewing experience and inviting low-income folks to see themselves as stakeholders in the arts scene.
What’s more, Steven has worked hard to make Ubuntu the nicest gallery space in the city. It’s important to him that Germantown’s low-income and Black residents get to experience "luxury that doesn’t ask them for anything in return." He hopes the idea catches on, creating a network of fine art galleries in urban spaces — community access points that push art into the future.
It takes money to create an elevated gallery space, but traditional banks couldn’t get behind a new business with such a bold vision. So, Steven capitalized on a partnership between crowdfunding investment platform Honeycomb Credit and DreamSpring, which provided him with nearly $27,000 in matching funds to fuel the business. “I feel very responsible to both my Honeycomb investors and to DreamSpring to ensure that I make this vision work."
Steven is reaping rewards in his personal life, too. Being his own boss means he can pick up his 7-year-old daughter from the school bus stop every day. That’s the ubuntu spirit in action, and DreamSpring’s belief in Steven CW Taylor is part of the continuum. “I've felt like a person and not a number,” he says. “There’s appreciation for my business, for my story, for me, and for my community of Germantown.”
