Honorary Committee Pam Cerrone Miki Conn Paulyn M. Cox Joan Gould Rev. Phillip N. Grigsby Wes & Mary Holloway Jessica Hunter Dr. Peggy King Ifabayo A. Matlock Nancy Peterson & Ed Kautz Congressman Paul D. Tonko Randolph F. Treece Janice Woodard

Omoye Cooper, Executive Director Officers Ifabayo A. Matlock, President Jody Lyons, Vice President Juan King, Treasurer Jessica Hunter, Secretary Board of Directors Robert Aronstein Michelle Bergeron Sheriff Dominic Dagastino Marva Isaacs Grantley Mcleod Jean Todd

Hamilton Hill Arts Center

409 Schenectady Street Schenectady, NY 12307 Tel: 518.346.1262 / Fax: 518.346.2625 hamiltonhillartscenter.org

Volunteer Advisory Committee Sharon Carter Pam Cerrone Miki Conn Mona Golub Rev. Philip Grigsby Wes Holloway Karen Johnson Leslie Lotano-Saba Marsha Mortimore Thank You to Our Sponsors

Hamilton Hill Arts Center Invites you to join us at our 2016

Black Arts Movement

Celebration

Commemorating Black History through the Arts Thursday, February 18 at 5:30pm The Water’s Edge Lighthouse, Schenectady

The Board of Directors of the Hamilton Hill Arts Center proudly invites you to our Annual Dinner Celebration of African and African American Art

The Hamilton Hill Arts Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) cultural arts center. Our mission is to ensure the healthy development of youth by promoting their involvement in the visual, performing, and English language arts, with a unique focus on African and African American art. The Hamilton Hill Arts Center (HHAC) blends African and African-American arts and culture with educational and character-building activities, making the center a unique resource in the Capital Region. Founded in 1968 as a drop-in arts center for at-risk youth, HHAC was inspired by the Black Arts Movement, and aspires to have a lasting and positive impact on the children who attend, the community, and the world we live in. We bring beauty, culture, and hope to an inner-city neighborhood and the entire region.

Hamilton Hill Arts Center

The Black Arts Movement was the name given to a group of politically motivated black poets, artists, dramatists, musicians, and writers who emerged in 1965, in the wake of the Black Power Movement. These Cultural Nationalists called for the creation of poetry, novels, visual arts, and theater to reflect pride in black history and culture. This new affirmation of black artistic autonomy was a means to awaken black consciousness and achieve liberation. The Black Arts Movement had its greatest impact in theater and poetry. Although it began in the New York/Newark area, it soon spread to Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, and San Francisco, California. In Chicago, Hoyt Fuller and John Johnson edited and published Negro Digest (later Black World), which promoted the work of new black literary artists. Also in Chicago, Third World Press published black writers and poets. In Detroit, Lotus Press and Broadside Press republished older works of black poetry. These Midwestern publishing houses brought recognition to edgy, experimental poets. New black theater groups were also established.

5:30pm Cocktails (cash bar), hors d’oeuvres, Silent Auction 6:30pm Dinner Entertainment throughout the evening provided by the Hamilton Hill Arts Center Umoja African Dancers & Drummers, and Steel Drum Band Business attire suggested, traditional African attire encouraged! Please return the enclosed response card by February 12, 2016

Hamilton Hill Arts Center

In 1969, Robert Chrisman and Nathan Hare established The Black Scholar, which was the first scholarly journal to promote black studies within academia. Black Arts Movement and mainstream black musicians also collaborated, including celebrated jazz musicians John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Archie Shepp, and others. Cultural nationalists saw jazz as a distinctly black art form. As we embark on our 49th year of service to the Hamilton Hill community, the HHAC thoughtfully reflects on the game-changing artists of the Black Arts Movement, and the predecessors who influenced them. We celebrate their contribtuions to the arts and black pride, and the foundation they helped lay for modern-day writers, musicians, dancers and actors who provide hope, inspiration and renewal to the kids who drop in for a creative outlet. Your support of and commitment to the Hamilton Hill Arts Center allows us to continue to offer education, arts opportunities and beauty to people of all ages. Thank you!