Ammariee Spraggins, 8, gets painted at the 2016 Black Art Festival at the Center for Arts and Culture. (Bryan Bennet | MLive.com photo file) Bryan Bennett
KALAMAZOO, MI – Black art and music will fill the Kalamazoo Shopping Center on Saturday 9 July during the 36th annual Black Art Festival.
The festival is hosted by Black Arts & amp; The Cultural Center gives black artists in Kalamazoo the opportunity to create art, present it and develop professionalism in their work.
“As our center has been used for several years as a gallery space to display the works of these BIPOC artists, our festival actually uses all genres of art, whether it’s vocal performances, of course still visual arts, culinary arts, handmade goods and the like. similar, ”said program director Dani Lewis.
The festival starts on Thursday, July 7 with an event at Black Arts & amp; Centrum Kultury, to celebrate the success of last year’s capital campaign and talk about the future of space.
The organization reports that thanks to the campaign financing Black Arts & amp; The new space of the Cultural Center at Epic Center Kalamazoo. The largest donation was a $ 50,000 gift from a local resident and philanthropist Demarry West, owner of Be Well Beautiful Woman & amp; Consulting for change agents.
On Friday, July 8, the festival will move to the Douglas Community Association for an artistic development program aimed at the younger generation.
The next day, the festival will end with a concert in Kalamazoo Mall with local talent from 11:00 to 23:00. on Saturday, July 9
“Our founders really wanted to show black talent at Kalamazoo and let people know that we are here and that we are talented,” Lewis said of the annual event, which was first held in 1986.
Lewis hopes that the continuation of the tradition will attract more people to Black Arts & amp; Cultural Center.
They managed to attract more customers after moving the office to the first floor of the Epic Center in Kalamazoo Mall, thanks to a fundraising campaign launched at last year’s festival.
“Two of our four walls are windows, giving us more visibility, greater presence in Kalamazoo downtown, greater awareness in our community, and once again our visibility helps our artists get commissioned work and get attention,” said Lewis.
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