Key Points:
• Angelica Bakhsh opens Mama Debbie’s Art Emporium in Tucker.
• The art hub will be located at the former Treasures on the Railroad.
• The emporium aims to provide a welcoming space for art and community.
With art inked on her face and forearms, Angelica Bakhsh embodies self-expression and artistic freedom wherever she goes.
When the doors to her labor of love, Mama Debbie’s Art Emporium, opens later this month, she hopes that each customer and artist can feel the freedom and inclusivity she intends to bring with her new art hub, which is named after her late mother.
“My mom was an activist, and a victim’s advocate, and she was the mom that all my friends would go to – all the weird kids, and all the queer kids, and all the kids whose families didn’t accept (them),” Bakhsh said in an interview with Rough Draft Atlanta. “I grew up in South Georgia, in Albany, and all of those people could always find refuge at my house with my mom, so that’s where we landed. We want to offer that refuge to the othered.”
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The Tucker resident and her best friend Clay Morey, who she met in high school, took over the lease at the former Treasures on the Railroad in October. Bakhsh, 49, spent almost two years as a Treasures’ vendor with her business Heavy Metal Honky Tonk, which sells reclaimed and vintage boots and apparel to keep them from landfills.
Morey majored in printmaking and painting at Savannah College of Art & Design, but ultimately took the path of restaurant retail before starting Mama Debbie’s. They both have spent the last several months rehabbing the 7,500-square-foot historic mill into their artist emporium dream.
“We want everything as local as possible. We really want to be a community hub. There’s not a town seat,” Bakhsh said. “There’s not a place to go have these kind of talks and things like we used to have. There’s a guy running for Georgia government who used to be a Republican, and now he’s running as a Democrat. There’s nowhere for him to go talk to people in Tucker. I want him to come here and tell us why.”
The front area will feature a free coffee nook, two gallery spaces, and a retail floor that will highlight the work of up to 30 local artists, Bakhsh said. There will also be a separate space for “co-arting,” where artists can pay a membership fee to work in the industrial, open space or rent designated booths for their shops and offices.
In November, the duo launched a Kickstarter that would help them build out a classroom space at Mama Debbie’s. Their goal was to raise $10,000 in 60 days. Through the help of artists and some local residents, they raised more than $11,000. The abundant support from the community brought Bakhsh to tears as they both thanked donors in a Facebook video.
“Art is activism,” Morey said. “It’s great to have a place where people can come and hang out. Obviously, we want people to spend money and buy, but we also want people to come and spend some time, and that’s what the classroom space is for.”
The classroom and makers area will offer everything from woodworking to sewing, with tools and machines available. Jonelle Dawkins, executive director of Scraplanta, said she is eager for Mama Debbie’s to offer more art spaces in Tucker. Scraplanta offers pre-loved art supplies, classes, and events in Tucker.
“We want to collaborate with Mama Debbie’s for workshops, because our customers expressed a high demand for craft classes, and we’re not able to host large amounts of people in our current retail space,” Dawkins said. “It’s also an opportunity for us to craft in the heart of Tucker, so we can have more family-centric programming.”
The space represents Mama Debbie from the welcoming energy to the flamboyant decor, which includes peacocks, her favorite animal, and tiger wallpaper and carpeting. The colorful display is representative of the spectrum of folks Bakhsh wants to feel welcomed at the emporium, no matter their background or income.
Vendors under 21 will not have to pay a rental booth. Rental fees start as low as $50 per month, depending on the product and space. She also will not invite any vendors who don’t agree with her stance of “pro-fat, pro black, pro-sex work, and no human is illegal.”
“For me it’s a big deal to help women make money for themselves,” Bakhsh said. “I’m done with people, cavalier and entitled, and gatekeeping art. That’s not what it’s about. That’s not how you build.”
Mama Debbie’s Art Emporium, located at 4290 Railroad Ave., Tucker, does not yet have an opening date, but all are welcomed to stop by, take a look or even pet a paper tiger in the meantime.