When William Skeet Jiggetts was a child, he loved trips to the Philadelphia Art Museum. By the time he had his own apartment, Jiggetts began decorating with poster prints of famous artwork. Before long, he began buying original pieces and building relationships with emerging and contemporary artists. He now serves as a trustee and board member for several institutions, including the Montclair Art Museum, The Colored Girls Museum, and the Museum of Black Joy.

According to Jiggetts, this progression — from an art appreciator to an art collector — might seem unattainable to some. However, he is here to report that’s not the case.

“[Art collection] is not exclusive,” Jiggetts told the Local. “Anybody can do this. Collectors are not all rich, famous people. They’re school teachers, professors, and working people who love art and support artists.”

To honor the tradition of art collection, Jiggetts founded the Museum of African American Art Collections (MAAAC), a “forum for the display, study, and appreciation of collections of Black art accumulated by African American collectors.”

From Nov. 1 to Dec. 30, the MAAAC is hosting its inaugural exhibition, “Collectors’ Life,” at Awbury Arboretum’s Cope House Gallery in Germantown. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore works gathered by local art collectors.

Celebrating collectors

Jiggetts said the idea of founding the MAAAC has lived in his head for nearly a decade. Two years ago, he finally began the process of bringing it to life.

According to Jiggetts, the organization’s intention is to celebrate Black collectors and display their private collections.

“Most art collectors don’t have an opportunity to display their work outside their homes,” Jiggetts said. “There are vast amounts of very beautiful art by notable artists that don’t get to be seen by the public. So, the support that collectors give to the art world…is largely unsung.”

To get these collections in front of the public’s eyes, Jiggetts turned to the Cope House Gallery. The East Falls resident and art aficionado was aware of Awbury’s exhibits, and the team at the arboretum received the MAAAC’s request “enthusiastically.”

Jiggetts then asked a handful of collectors to curate the exhibit themselves, selecting a theme and four to six pieces that support that theme. The collectors include Diana Tyson, Stephanie A. Daniel, Vashti Dubois, Dr. Robyn Jones, and Adrian Moody.

Artists’ events

In conjunction with the exhibition, the MAAAC is hosting two collectors’ talks at the Cope House Gallery. The first event — a tea time conversation presented by Alison’s Tea Room — will be at 1:30 p.m., Nov. 15, featuring art collector Diana Tyson with professor and nonprofit leader Dr. Jocelyn Russell Wallace.

The conversation will cover portraiture and documenting families’ legacies through commissioned paintings.

“With the proliferation of easy picture taking, we all have hundreds of pictures of grandma on our phone now, so there’s less of an inclination toward the formality of portraiture,” Jiggetts explained. “We’re going to raise the question: Is it something important that we should still be doing?”

The second event will be at 1 p.m., Nov. 22, with Danielle Scott, a mixed-media assemblage artist based in New Jersey, in conversation with Misty Sol, a local artist and author. The discussion will focus on the importance of individual art collectors to an artist’s career as they gain notoriety and move towards institutional collections.

According to Jiggetts, Scott began selling her art out of a studio to individual collectors before eventually having her work displayed in museums.

“As artists get that kind of recognition, the paintings get bigger, their prices go up, and they seem to not need the support of the same kind of collectors who supported them as they were coming up,” Jiggetts said. “That’s the question that we’re looking to answer in that [second] session: Is it important or relevant to maintain relationships with individual collectors when you’ve moved into a bigger space?”

A “legacy of preservation”

When guests visit “Collectors’ Life,” Jiggetts is hopeful they will be inspired to start their own art collection.

“[Anyone] can take part in this legacy of preservation and support the infrastructure that allows artists to continue to work and create,” Jiggetts said. “If people see it and decide they want to begin collecting art, buying art…then that’s going to be a win for us.”

The MAAAC is currently decentralized and will be using the Cope House Gallery as a home base for the next two months. After that, in February and March of 2026, there will be another exhibition at Allens Lane Art Center in Mt. Airy. Jiggetts said the next goal for the MAAAC is to secure a permanent location.

“Collectors’ Life” will be on display at Awbury Arboretum’s Cope House Gallery (1 Awbury Rd.) from Nov. 1 to Dec. 30. An opening reception will be at 6 p.m., Nov. 6. To learn more, visit maaac.org.

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.