Art

National Museum of African American Music Adds Directors

THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — The National Museum of African American Music has named Vincent PremDas as the director of development and Tamar Smithers as the director of education programs.

Published

6 years ago

March 9, 2019

Oakland Post

By The Tennessee Tribune

NASHVILLE, TN — The National Museum of African American Music has named Vincent PremDas as the director of development and Tamar Smithers as the director of education programs.

Vincent PremDas joins NMAAM from Fisk University, where he most recently served as the associate vice president for institutional advancement, according to a release. He will be responsible for the museum’s capital campaign, annual fundraising and membership efforts.

In his 20-year career, PremDas spearheaded major giving and development campaigns across various industries, including education, nonprofit, health care and government. His work resulted in philanthropic gifts while he was at the University of Florida College of Medicine and Levin College of Law, Vanderbilt Law School, Radford University College of Business and Economics and Fisk.

PremDas will replace current NMAAM director of development LoLita Toney, who will be leaving at the end of the month.

PremDas received his Bachelor of Science degree in sports management from the University of Florida. He is currently a Master of Business Administration degree candidate at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.

“[PremDas] has facilitated major donations for a number of well-known organizations,” H. Beecher Hicks III, NMAAM president and CEO, said in the release. “And with the museum’s grand opening approaching quickly, Vincent will be integral to helping us continue our fundraising momentum and secure the support that will make NMAAM an international destination.”

Smithers (on right in photo) joins NMAAM from Syracuse University’s Community Folk Art Center, where she has served as the director of education since 2013. Prior to Syracuse, Smithers served as the director of education for Barbizon USA.

At NMAAM, Smithers will oversee youth and adult programming, as well as education initiatives in the Metro Nashville Public Schools system. NMAAM’s educational programs include “From Nothing to Something,” teaching students musical history by introducing them to cultural instruments, and “Music, Legends and Heroes,” exposing students to artists and music industry leaders through interactive conversations.

Tamar Smithers received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from Syracuse University. She also received her certificate of advanced study in higher education leadership and Master of Science degree in arts administration from Le Moyne College. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

“Telling the story of the American soundtrack demands that we pass down the techniques and influences that were foundational to today’s music,” Hicks said. “Tamar’s passion for education and performing arts makes her the perfect candidate for sharing these stories with children both in Nashville and across the country.”

The announcements of the two hires follows an announcement earlier this week that NMAAM received a $1 million gift, bringing it to 75 percent of its $50 million goal.

The museum is expected to open no later than early 2020.

This article originally appeared in The Tennessee Tribune.

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Activism

Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

3 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

5 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Art

Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

5 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.