ROBBIE LEE
Born in Houston on September 14, 1949, Robbie Elayne Lee’s introduction to art came as a child when she and her siblings would escape the summer heat by ducking into the art building at Texas Southern University. She was fascinated with the artwork she found, and soon she met Dr. John Biggers who invited her to model for his drawing classes. Lee attended Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey where she received a business degree and returned to Houston in the mid-1970s. A wrong turn led to a chance encounter with an impromptu display of paintings on a fence in the Third Ward; Lee made her first purchase and her collection quickly grew. After friends began asking where they could buy African and African-American art of similar quality, Lee opened Suttons Black Heritage Art Gallery in January 1977 at 4913 Griggs Road. The gallery would soon move to 5003 San Jacinto and later to 4402 Almeda. Lee was well-positioned to handle work by the city’s African-American artists at a time when opportunities were few, and she frequently made on-location presentations to church groups and civic clubs. Among the artists to show and sell their work at the Black Heritage Gallery are John Biggers, Burford Evans, Leonard Freeman, Earlie Hudnall, Harvey Johnson, Arturo Lindsay, and Tom McKinney. Lee’s stock was wide-ranging, with books, dolls, quilts, jewelry, and antiques on sale alongside works of fine art. The galley closed when the building sold in 2014, but Lee continued to curate and consult independently and to sell art from her home near Northwest Crossing.
Pete Gershon interviewed Robbie Lee at her home on March 15, 2019. After the interview, Ms. Lee showed me some ephemera she’d saved from her career. You see a bit of this in the video.
Further Resources:
Video: Robbie Lee interviewed by Ted Ellis, posted August 28, 2011
This project was funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance