The Hon. Ernest D. Davis, Mayor of Mount Vernon, NY was presented one of the four individually crafted awards created by Ademola Olugebefola, for his creation of the Third Street Arts District that provides more space, services and opportunities for artists in Mt. Vernon, our neighbor to the North. Ernie, as the very popular dreadlocked mayor prefers to be called, was trained as an architect and it is that experience that has served him well in planning the building of this arts community that will also be the home of the Hip-Hop Culture Gallery.

            Similarly honored was Harlem’s own Voza Rivers who has pulled together the arts community of Harlem into the increasingly powerful Harlem Arts Alliance, a coalition of over 150 groups in less than 18 months, has done a monumental job and won the respect of the organizations, the funding community and the political structure of New York.

            Brooklyn, New York’s most populated borough has been a hotbed of art and cultural activity for decades and one of the leading forces promoting visual artists is Grace Y. Ingleton. This tireless leader and hard working organizer of The Dedicators, a group that has for forty-nine years provided educational opportunities for young people seeking undergraduate degrees, assisting hundreds of students. For the past seven years, they have honored many African-American artists at their annual tribute that draws artists from all over the United States to the annual exhibition and luncheon with sales benefiting the scholarship fund.

            Brenda Brunson-Bey and her Tribal Truths fashion designs, were honored for her consistent contributions to the promotion of Africentric fashions and wearable art through shows, lectures. She is a partner and founder in 4W Circle of Art in the very trendy Bogolan Brooklyn fashion district. Brenda featured her designs and those of a select group of cutting edge wearable artisans in an upbeat, highly creative fashion production to highlight the event.

Among the designers celebrating with Brenda were noted Staten Island based African designer Adunni Oshupa Tabasi who showed her Alekebu-lan line; NCA designer Sadikisha Collier; Twain Revell & Twain’s Twines; Mt. Vernon based, Jamaican rising star Ramish Parague; Raasheida’s Adojah Native Arts; swimwear by Kaybee Originals, Piazza Millinery; Hats by Bunn; and direct from Ghana, fashions by Jimi Delaja represented by his agent Gary Fray. It was a truly international event featuring models from the US, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle-East including, Cheridah Ashley (Jamaica), Phyllis Brent, Desiree, Ozi, Lauraine ferris, Tamara Figueroa (Panama), Mariamma (Guinea), and Moshit Vashdy (Middle-East). All make-up was expertly done by Michelle Shepard. Richard Bartee was the Master of Ceremonies and Pernell Morrison & The Black Underground provided music and the sound system. The show was produced by Kwame Brathwaite and supported by a grant from Carver Bank.

            NCA also screened videotape footage of their 4^th International Conference held this past summer in Ghana which drew travelers from across the US and the Caribbean. Their next conference, their 44^th annual event, “Art As An Instrument for Social Change”, will be held April 17-19 at Howard University, along with the James A. Porter Colloquium and the David C. Driskell Center for the Arts at the University of Maryland. NCA was founded in 1959 for the preservation, promotion and furtherance of African American art and culture. The membership included visual artists, fiber artists, art educators, collectors, scholars, fashion designers, poets, dancers, musicians, curators, galleries and students.

            NCA’s mission is to inform, train, motivate those in the arts to make their talents a force for social change and to help provide employment opportunities, and to reach the general public in a way to move them in a positive direction and encourage them to change their own destiny. Through exhibitions, lectures, panel discussions and cultural programs they seek to show many possible ways art can inspire and teach our communities and particularly our youth.