CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURAL AND SERVICE CENTER INC
551 S TRYON STREET, CHARLOTTE, NC 28202 www.ganttcenter.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: THE HARVEY B. GANTT CENTER FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURE (FORMERLY THE CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURAL AND SERVICE CENTER) EXISTS TO PRESENT, PRESERVE AND PROMOTE AFRICAN AMERICAN ART, CULTURE AND HISTORY FOR THE EDUCATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT FOR ALL.

INSTITUTIONAL FOCUSAS A REGIONAL DESTINATION AND STATEWIDE RESOURCE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART, HISTORY AND CULTURE, THE GANTT CENTER IS AN INDUSTRY LEADER AMONG THE NATION'S AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS. WE CONTINUOUSLY LOOK BEYOND THE SCOPE OF HOW CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND MUSEUMS TRADITIONALLY OPERATE. WE HAVE REACHED BROADLY AND BEYOND THE CHARLOTTE COMMUNITY TO BUILD AWARENESS ABOUT SOCIETAL INEQUITIES THROUGH OUR EXHIBITIONS, PROGRAMS AND OFFERINGS. OUR CREDIBILITY AS AN INDUSTRY LEADER IS EXEMPLIFIED BY OUR ABILITY TO BUILD WIDER AUDIENCES AND EXPAND OUR FOOTPRINT THROUGH COLLABORATIONS WITH OTHER ARTS, HISTORICAL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONSINCLUDING THE REGION'S COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. INITIATIVE FOR EQUITY + INNOVATIONIN FALL 2018, THE GANTT CENTER LAUNCHED ITS INITIATIVE FOR EQUITY AND INNOVATION OR IEI, AS A STRATEGIC AND PERMANENT RESPONSE TO THE NATIONALLY VIEWED RIOTS THAT ENSUED IN 2016 AS A RESULT OF THE SHOOTING OF KEITH LAMONT SCOTTA BLACK MAN KILLED BY CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE. WE ARE KEEN ON BEING PROACTIVE RATHER THAN REACTIVE IN OUR APPROACHES TO EFFECT CHANGE. THROUGH IEI WE CREATE CULTURAL EXPERIENCES AND ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY IN CONVERSATIONS THAT BUILD AWARENESS ABOUT THE SYSTEMATIC OPPRESSION THAT HAS LONG AFFECTED BLACK PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR. ALTHOUGH HISTORICAL CONTEXTS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE ARE EXPLORED, THE PREMISE OF IEI IS PRIMARILY SOLUTION BASED. WE KNOW NOTHING WILL CHANGE IF MEMBERS OF THE CHARLOTTE COMMUNITY ARE ILL-INFORMED OR UNEDUCATED ABOUT: 1) THE SOCIETAL PROBLEMS THAT THWART MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES AND 2) THE RESOURCES AND APPROACHES THAT CAN AFFECT CHANGE. WITH IEI, THE GANTT CENTER IS STEPPING UP IN BOLD WAYS TO ADDRESS ISSUES OF RACIAL EQUITY AND OPPORTUNITY THROUGH VARIOUS AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART FORMS AND WITH CREATIVE EXPERIENCES THAT EDUCATE BY CHALLENGING BIASES, REGRESSIVE IDEAS AND RIGID MINDSETS. IEI HAS PRODUCED MANY OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO CONNECT WITH DIVERSE AUDIENCES REGIONALLY IN A DEEPER WAY. WITH THE LAUNCH OF IEI WE, WE CONTINUE TO OFFER EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING SESSIONS TO CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY GROUPSROOTED IN OUR EXHIBITIONS AND FOCUSED ON EQUITY AND UNCONSCIOUS BIAS. THESE LEARNING SESSIONS INCLUDE INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES, GUIDED TOURS, Q & A SESSIONS, AND MORE. AN ARRAY OF PROFESSIONAL, COMMUNITY AND CORPORATE GROUPS SUCH AS NASCAR, LEADERSHIP CHARLOTTE, TURNER CONSTRUCTION, YMCA, AND CITY OF CHARLOTTE'S CITIZEN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY HAVE PARTICIPATED.EXHIBITIONSTHE GANTT CENTER'S ARTISTIC VISION EXEMPLIFIES THE USE OF "ARTS AS ACTIVISM" WHILE ALSO EMBRACING INNOVATION AND INTELLECTUAL THOUGHTESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS TO FULFILLING THE CRITICAL NEED FOR A MORE VIBRANT CHARLOTTE. AS AN INNOVATIVE INSTITUTION THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON THE QUALITY OF ARTISTIC WORKS AND PROGRAMS PRESENTED TO THE COMMUNITY, THE FOUNDATION OF OUR VISION LIES ON THE PREMISE THAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART AND CULTURE, ALTHOUGH UNDER-REPRESENTED AND DRASTICALLY UNDER-FUNDED, MUST CLAIM AND OWN ITS PLACE AMONG MAINSTREAM CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS. SINCE THE LAUNCH OF OUR IEI-ALIGNED EXHIBITION WELCOME TO BROOKHILL IN SEPTEMBER 2018, WE HAVE RECEIVED EXTENSIVE MEDIA COVERAGE. THE EXHIBITION'S ARTIST, ALVIN C. JACOBS, WAS NAMED A 2018 CHARLOTTEAN OF THE YEAR AND PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR FOR HIS WORK WITH THE GANTT CENTER. THE EXHIBITION ITSELF WAS NAMED BEST EXHIBITION OF 2018 BY CREATIVE LOAFING. THE GANTT'S IEI FOCUSES DIRECTLY ON ISSUES OF ACCESS, INCLUSION AND EQUITY IN THE COMMUNITY, WHICH HAS SERVED TO HEIGHTEN OUR AWARENESS, INTERNALLY, AND SHIFTED OUR ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES AND PRACTICES.TALK ABOUT IT TUESDAY TALK ABOUT IT TUESDAY, IN WHICH WE BRING IN PANEL OF SUBJECT EXPERTS FROM OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY TO SPEAK ON ISSUES AND THEMES FOUND WITHIN OUR EXHIBITIONS SUCH AS EQUITY, RACE, COMMUNITY, HOUSING, GENTRIFICATION, UNCONSCIOUS BIAS, AND EDUCATION. ESSENTIALLY, WE FOCUS ON TOPICS THAT EXPLORE HOW WE LIVE, HOW WE LEARN, AND HOW WE WORK WITH ONE ANOTHER. THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS ARE FOLLOWED BY AUDIENCE Q & A SESSIONS. FAMILY FIRST THE GANTT CENTER OFFERS EDUCATIONAL AND ARTISTIC PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS AND SCHOOL CHILDREN OF ALL AGES. OUR FAMILY FIRST PROGRAM, SPONSORED BY NOVANT HEALTH HAS AFFORDED US THE OPPORTUNITY TO CURATE PROGRAMS PRIMARILY FOR STUDENTS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 5 AND 13. ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH, CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE ABLE TO ENGAGE IN ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND WORKSHOPS THAT MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE. PAST FAMILY FIRST ACTIVITIES HAVE INCLUDED, THEATRE ARTS, DANCE, MASK MAKING, MUSIC MAKING, SPOKEN WORD, POETRY, PAINTING, COLLAGE MAKING AND VARIOUS OTHER ART FORMS. K-12 STUDENTS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMINGAT THE CORE OF OUR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING IS THE NEWLY DEVELOPED ENVISION ME PROGRAM, WHICH WILL LAUNCH IN FALL 2020 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS. THE OBJECTIVE OF ENVISION ME IS TO REACH MORE STUDENTS, PROVIDE ACCESS TO HIGH QUALITY CREATIVE EXPERIENCES FOR TITLE 1 SCHOOL STUDENTS. THIS PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE FOUR (4) TITLE I MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS AND 120 STUDENTS (30 STUDENTS PER TEACHER) ACCESS TO INSIGHTFUL EXPERIENCES INTO HOW THE ARTS CAN BE USED AS A TOOL TO BUILD CONFIDENCE, IMPROVE CRITICAL THINKING, AND ULTIMATELY IGNITE STUDENTS' PASSION FOR LEARNING ACROSS MULTIPLE SUBJECT AREAS. STUDENTS WILL VISIT THE GANTT CENTER AND EIGHT (8) IN-CLASSROOM WORKSHOPS WILL SUPPLEMENT THE EXPERIENCE OVER THE COURSE OF EIGHT (8) WEEKS. DATA WILL BE COLLECTED VIA PRE AND POST TESTS AND CLASSROOM EVALUATIONS WILL TAKE PLACE TO ASSESS EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT. WE WILL PILOT THIS PROGRAM DURING FY21 AND EXPAND THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS SERVED IN FOLLOWING YEARS ONLY IF THE DATA COLLECTED AND ANALYZED WARRANTS US TO DO SO.GANTT TEACHER INSTITUTE: BUILDING EQUITABLE CLASSROOMSWE CREATED GTI TO HELP TEACHERS DISCOVER THEIR OWN BIASES IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES MARGINALIZED STUDENTS OF COLOR DEAL WITH OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM AND HOW THAT IMPACTS LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR WITHIN THE CLASSROOM SETTING. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS, THE INSTITUTE IS AS A TWO-DAY INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE DESIGNED TO HELP TEACHERS BUILD MORE EQUITABLE CLASSROOMS. USING OUR EXHIBITIONS AS THE FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING, TEACHERS EXPLORE THEMES SUCH AS BIAS, RACISM, GENTRIFICATION, HEALTH, WEALTH, EDUCATION AND POLICING, WHICH ARE TIED TO SOME OF THE MOST PRESSING ISSUES IN OUR SOCIETY THAT DIRECTLY IMPACTING PEOPLE OF COLOR.

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