Come see the work of this years 2026 featured visual artists and more
to be announced.
Each year we are proud to highlight the works of local black artists and others from within the Tampa bay Area and regions outside of the area to showcase work that's making an impact.
Brought to you by The Factory St. Pete, DYG Art 4 the Soul, GALLERY 909 St. Pete, P.D.A.P. , and
DreamMakerz Productions
(MORE UPDATES AND INFO TO COME)…
BAFF 's ARTIST IN MEMORIAL... NICK DAVIS
Late December 2022 the St. Pete Arts Community lost a Digital artist that was definitely on the rise and soaring to higher heights in the arts due to complications from Epilepsy. Nick Davis, gifted at drawing and painting, took up computer generated artwork, and dedicated himself to making impressionistic portraits of African Americans – from the everyday to the well-known – as part of a collection he called Black is Beautiful. On his website, ndartlife.com, Davis wrote “My mission is to show black people living comfortably.” This he did and more.
See more of his work here...
https://images.app.goo.gl/yska6XRJsyQjR5dX8
See more of his work here...
https://images.app.goo.gl/yska6XRJsyQjR5dX8
THIS YEARS WINNER...
BAFF Nick Davis 2026 ARTIST OF THE YEAR
James "FREEMAN" Kitchens
James Kitchens, known professionally as Freeman, is a Tampa Bay–based artist with over 30 years of experience across diverse creative fields. A former boxer, Freeman brings the same discipline, resilience, and intensity from the ring into his art practice. His work is rooted in lived experience and driven by a desire to communicate deeper truths beyond surface aesthetics.
Freeman is a multi-faceted artist working across tattoos, graffiti, murals, mixed media, airbrush, and traditional painting. His versatility allows him to move fluidly between fine art and street art, creating work that is both visually powerful and culturally grounded. Community and storytelling are central to his practice, with many of his works serving as public reflections of history, identity, and collective memory.
He has been featured as a mural artist at the 2022 Valspar Golf Championship and has exhibited work throughout the Tampa Bay area at venues including the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and The Studio@620. Freeman also participated for two consecutive years in the Black Art and Film Festival. In recognition of his impact as a cultural artist, he was selected to paint live street murals for both Black Lives Matter and Black History Matters events at the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in 2020 and 2023.
Guided by the belief that art should speak to the soul, Freeman’s work seeks to reveal what lies beneath the surface. As he states, “The aim of my art is to represent not the outer appearance of things but their inward significance.”
Freeman is a multi-faceted artist working across tattoos, graffiti, murals, mixed media, airbrush, and traditional painting. His versatility allows him to move fluidly between fine art and street art, creating work that is both visually powerful and culturally grounded. Community and storytelling are central to his practice, with many of his works serving as public reflections of history, identity, and collective memory.
He has been featured as a mural artist at the 2022 Valspar Golf Championship and has exhibited work throughout the Tampa Bay area at venues including the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and The Studio@620. Freeman also participated for two consecutive years in the Black Art and Film Festival. In recognition of his impact as a cultural artist, he was selected to paint live street murals for both Black Lives Matter and Black History Matters events at the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in 2020 and 2023.
Guided by the belief that art should speak to the soul, Freeman’s work seeks to reveal what lies beneath the surface. As he states, “The aim of my art is to represent not the outer appearance of things but their inward significance.”
PAST RECIPIENTS
BAFF Nick Davis 2025 Artist of the Year
Kamysha Martin
Kamysha Martin is a Metalsmith & Owner of lolahSoul Jewelry. “lolah” is named after Kamysha’s fearless side who leaps unafraid and courageously steps outside her comfort zone to grow. She stands up for what she believes in and stands firm in knowing she is enough. In Kamysha’s studio, The House of lolahSoul, she creates “organized chaos,” often letting the metal and stones lead the way. She believes every piece she makes already belongs to someone if only they listen for the call.
BAFF Nick Davis 2024 ARTIST OF THE YEAR
RAHEEM FITZGERALD
When you meet Raheem Fitzgerald (b. 1997, St. Petersburg, FL), you don’t forget him. He is someone who lives an artistic life, which is to say, by all appearances, each of the decisions he makes that contribute to one’s perception of him (hair style, clothes, demeanor, etc.) are intentional, informed by an artful tradition that preceded him, and ultimately model a grander vision for himself and society at large.
Raheem Fitzgerald’s work allows us to indulge in his belief in the idea of the
masterpiece as an achievable aesthetic pursuit at a time in which most have become disillusioned with the implication that the current economic and social order represents any semblance of a meritocracy. Far from naïveté, and even farther from an endorsement of the traditional evaluation of fine art, Fitzgerald’s work yearns for a renewed widespread societal embrace and enthusiasm for visual art reminiscent of that of the Années folles in 1920s France, underscored by the hypothesis that if one should hope to catalyze the resurgence of an era defined by artistic icons creating masterworks between conversations at the café, one must present themselves as an icon, learn their language, and dare to pull up a chair.
Raheem Fitzgerald’s work allows us to indulge in his belief in the idea of the
masterpiece as an achievable aesthetic pursuit at a time in which most have become disillusioned with the implication that the current economic and social order represents any semblance of a meritocracy. Far from naïveté, and even farther from an endorsement of the traditional evaluation of fine art, Fitzgerald’s work yearns for a renewed widespread societal embrace and enthusiasm for visual art reminiscent of that of the Années folles in 1920s France, underscored by the hypothesis that if one should hope to catalyze the resurgence of an era defined by artistic icons creating masterworks between conversations at the café, one must present themselves as an icon, learn their language, and dare to pull up a chair.