When I was younger, being a collector was practically a personality. I thought it was so cool to let what you collected represent a memory or a part of your life you enjoyed. At first, I struggled to decide what would be my thing. Would it be lanyards, or should I just collect all the Flat Stanley books? 

I wanted whatever I chose to be meaningful for me. During this time, 3D movies were popular, and when I saw movies with family and friends, we always left the theater laughing, excited to discuss what we enjoyed or disliked about the movie. It was these memories that inspired me to collect the 3D glasses after every movie; I gathered them from my cousins and aunts before they dropped them in the bin. These were the times in the 2000s when collecting pieces of cereal boxes and buying yogurt for a chance to win a Disney cruise with the Sprouse brothers were all the hype.

At the 2023 All Arts Day: A Celebration of Aminah Robinson event at King Arts Complex, I was brought back to those childhood feelings when I learned how Columbus artist Aminah Robinson was a collector herself. I found myself learning about what she collected and began to speculate what meaning this held for her. She loved collecting everyday items, the ones that some would disregard or leave behind. Aminah believed that anything could be used for art, but she especially loved collecting buttons—so much so that people would come by to drop off buttons just for her art. 

I believe that this love for art created a community of people inspired by her love for even the smallest of things. When Aminah realized this, she took it as an opportunity to contribute to her community. Even after her passing, her love for the community lives on in how she left nearly her whole estate to the Columbus Museum of Art. Her home studio is now an artist residency for local African American artists. 

Every year in the month of February for Aminah’s birthday, the King Arts Complex holds an event to celebrate her for her contributions as an artist and teacher within the African American community on the east side of Columbus. At this event, there were all sorts of group art activities, like making dolls, designing boxes, and creating booklets using brown paper lunch bags. 

Aminah's legacy creates spaces where collectors and artists can come together and relish in an almost childlike joy to share their passions, allowing their imaginations and creativity to be let free from judgment or embarrassment. I experienced this myself at the event when a man who collected colognes and perfumes from around the world went around the room and pointed out what made them unique. We were all collectors reveling in the joy small things can bring, just like Aminah did.

Being fully immersed in that experience was truly delightful and nostalgic. Just for a moment, it allowed me to forget about the stressors of my college life and took me back to my childhood memories of being a Girl Scout, where I could come as I am and create whatever my heart desired.