Empire Arts Gallery builds community through exhibitions and tattoos

Empire Arts Gallery takes up space — literally. While nestled among cafés and shops on both sides of Hosea L. Williams Drive in Kirkwood, the gallery sits slightly apart in its own corner. Light streams through the big glass windows, illuminating the art-filled walls within. 

Inside, the gallery’s three spaces — art gallery, tattoo studio and boutique — brim with bustling conversation. It’s a sunny Friday evening at the gallery, and Jessica Locklar, who serves both as the gallery coordinator and a tattoo artist, is working on a tattoo coverup. The walls of the studio are lined with paintings and monochrome tattoo sketches, and a string of warm lightbulbs thread across the window. Locklar fills in a floral design, pausing every now and then to check in with her client, Andie.

Empire Arts Gallery was founded in 2020 by Brandi Smart and Malia Rifkin, with the mission to have a place for artists to show and sell their work and build community — and for clients to be tattooed in a safe environment.

“They are both women and tattooers — in a kind of a toxic, kind of masculine, kind of gross environment usually. And so they were like, you know, we’re going to do our own thing,” Locklar said.

Locklar joined in 2021, initially as an artist participating in one of their shows and later as a tattoo apprentice. Sara Slick, manager and tattoo apprentice, joined the following year. Slick reflects on the nature of the job as a balancing act, noting that she and Locklar are actively involved in both tattooing and organizing gallery events. Slick describes the dynamic as collaborative and full of care, and that the two of them are “fantastic co-workers and low-key besties.” 

Locklar says that the blend of gallery, studio and boutique feels natural and one will often lead visitors to another. “The three elements really work together because we can make art doing this, we can help people show their art and then they can sell their art to the boutique. It’s really symbiotic.”

For example, welcoming the art community through the gallery exhibitions allows for many visitors to discover the tattoo studio. Ultimately, the tattooing funds the space and keeps the doors open — a reflection of the DIY spirit of the artist community in creating spaces for artists. 

“Tattooing is very collaborative. So if you get someone that you really click with — which is, I would say, most of the time — they would come back. We are not your traditional tattoo shop; it’s a much warmer place. We embrace people here better than other shops,” said Locklar. Andie, who is mid-session with Locklar, agrees.

“I’ve been dealing with tattoo shops for over 20 years. You go to a lot of them. It’s very hard. This one’s very soft. In other words, you feel more welcome. A lot of them, they’re like, what do you want? This one’s like, ‘Hey, let’s work with you; let’s talk to you.’”

That intentional approach is grounded in the gallery’s values: Both Slick and Locklar feel that being femme-operated allows them to bring a better and intrinsic understanding of bodily autonomy and its importance to tattooing.

“Sometimes we’ll have clients who maybe aren’t as talkative, and we’ll check in with them and ask: ‘What do you like when you’re getting a tattoo? Do you want me to talk to you?’ We try and make them feel comfortable and not like they have to perform or anything like that,” Locklar said.

The emphasis on fostering an intimate environment also extends to the gallery, where they hope people can approach the art without feeling intimidated.

“We get the opportunity to work with the same kind of artists that would be in larger, more prominent galleries, but they also enjoy featuring work here because most of our pieces are in a price range that accommodates more people. Here, we welcome a true casual collector,” Slick said.

This year, Empire Arts plans to host more events in addition to gallery shows, which will rotate every other month instead of monthly. They are constantly experimenting — one example being their pivot away from pop-up markets — a decision informed by feedback from vendors and recognizing the oversaturation of such markets in Atlanta.

While Locklar finished the coverup, a collective prepared the gallery for its upcoming show, We Are Still Here, set to open the next day with an art showcase, market and open-mic event. Slick explains that We Are Still Here serves as a bridge between CHROMA, the gallery’s recent group show spotlighting AANHPI artists in Atlanta and Pride Month. AAWPI Fellow Liz Lee hung up a series of self-portraits, and she paused to invite me to the event, affirming the gallery’s warmth and support. 

Locklar describes Empire Arts’ shows as consistently femme-forward and edgy and said they are interested in highlighting underrepresented voices. 

“We will kind of play with that just to see what fits in the space the best. That’s the fun part of curating. And then, me and Jessica just sound like maniacal, insane people in the gallery. Just cackling together,” Slick said.

She recalls two major past shows. NEXT!, a group show that ran December 7, 2024, through January 4, 2025, was one of the first shows curated by the budding creative partnership. The concept, based on the theme of transitions, was inspired by January as a month of spring cleaning.

“We encouraged artists to put in work that they’ve had just lying around their house for a long time,” said Slick. “We figured it was a good opportunity for our artist friends to show that stuff again and give it some new life.” 

In February 2025, the gallery hosted AntEros: An Erotic Group Show, which was a juried exhibition celebrating intimacy, desire and human connection. Slick noted that it brought in a wide range of new artists and voices. Recently, the gallery has steered its focus toward group shows rather than solo shows in order to reach out to new artists in the community who may not have had opportunities to exhibit their works previously.

Empire Art Gallery’s upcoming show, Gay Ass Group Show, or GAGS, is a small works exhibition that will feature over 50 submissions by LGBTQIA+ artists.

Slick says that the title, GAGS, was born out of a playful riff brainstorm between her and Locklar — in the spirit of the show itself — which Slick says was treated in a more hands-off manner than other shows so as to encourage people to express themselves. The show is also the gallery’s first open-call to artists. Slick and Locklar emphasized that in its celebration of pride and queer joy, the show aims to go beyond merely symbolic representation.

“We’re not doing a soft pride show; it’s not like rainbow flag pride. It’s a bit more loud, in a positive way. And I feel like the kind of artists that we have involved and the kind of attitude behind it has a subtle protest vibe behind it, where we’re all like, yes: We’re loud, we’re here, we exist and there shouldn’t be any shame around it,” Slick said.

GAGS will open at Empire Arts Gallery on June 21, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with a drag performance at 8 p.m. The show runs through July 12.

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Mitali Singh is an Atlanta-based writer who is passionate about exploring the intersections between the arts and culture. She is currently a student at Emory University, studying English and creative writing. Her poems have been published in Eunoia Review and FEED.