Miracles Fine Art inspires a new generation of art-lovers

When two Macon residents opened an art gallery in 1990, finding works of art that embodied the Black experience seemed few and far between.

“At that time, Macon was not really ready for Black art,” said Melgenia Redd, who founded the gallery and framing store with her husband, Vernon. 

The Redds sought to fill Macon’s cultural gap by curating their own collection of works, ranging from art highlighting the Civil Rights movement and the Harlem Renaissance to  traditional African textiles. 

It’s been nearly 30 years since the once-vibrant gallery closed its doors, but recent efforts to introduce Black art to a new generation of Maconites has sparked a renaissance for the Redd family’s art collection. 

An Atlanta native, Melgenia originally moved to Macon for work and carried with her an appreciation for Black art inspired by her time in college.

What began as a modest effort to find art for their home in the ‘80s, grew into a larger endeavor for The Redds who began searching for Black art at various trade shows and festivals.

“It would be a miracle if we could find art here in Macon,” Vernon told his wife during that time.

The comment that struck a chord, and Miracles Fine Art Gallery was born. 

Miracles Fine Art Gallery began as a “museum on wheels,” visiting churches, schools and local festivals for several months before finding a permanent home in a Bloomfield Village storefront in 1991, Melgenia recalled.

Most visitors were shocked to discover the magnitude and variety of Black art displayed in Miracles art gallery, the couple said. 

Miracles was a family affair for The Redds. Vernon would frame art for customers, his parents would help with the gallery and their two young children, Marquita and Marques, would often greet visitors and accompany their parents to art trade shows.

Those two young children have now grown into their own niches of Macon’s art scene. Today, Marques is a multimedia artist and co-founder of Rainbow Serpent, a Black LGBTQ+ organization. Marquita is a multidisciplinary artist and social worker. 

Marques said helping out at the gallery and being exposed to the arts helped him foster an appreciation for the arts from a young age.

“Seeing powerful examples all around me set a stage for my own exploration,” he said. 

The family’s gallery later moved to Macon’s historic Pleasant Hill neighborhood, where it remained until its eventual closure.  

Vernon developed multiple sclerosis and a liver disease that made running the gallery near impossible. Miracles Fine Art shut its doors in 1996 and the family put the hundreds of artworks amassed over the years into storage. 

It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that the Redd family’s extensive collection of Black art returned to the spotlight.

Marques, who now lives in Pittsburgh, began digitizing the family’s art collection, and in 2022 he planned the Art as Liberation exhibit with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which featured original works from the Redd family’s collection. 

The family’s art collection made its Macon return in 2023 during the Juneteenth Freedom Festival in Tattnall Square Park. In 2024, an art exhibit opened at the Douglass Theatre. The following year another exhibit launched at the Tubman Museum, including a documentary on the Redd family.

Their latest exhibit, “Melodies & Merriment,” gives visitors a glimpse into the Black jazz scene and is on display at the Douglass Theatre until Dec. 21. 

With a new generation of art-lovers embracing Miracles gallery once more, Marques said he has not completely closed the door on the idea of opening a Miracles storefront back up for the community. 

He emphasized the significance of having “an institutional home for black culture” in contemporary society. 

“People understand the importance of preserving history and preserving culture — particularly in this political moment,” Marques said. “The importance of that preservation and historical and cultural work shines even brighter.”