New York City was the site of The National Conference of  Artists, 42^nd Annual meeting, “Gateway to Africa”,  hosted by the New York Chapter. The convention was a powerful well organized event which unlike many conventions  of major organizations, spread out its activities to include Harlem and Brooklyn, bringing tourists and New Yorkers right to the  Black institutions and businesses that have not yet benefited from the current tourist boom.
      The four-day meeting was augmented by  two pre-conference events, the opening of the New York Chapter Exhibition, “Gateway to Africa” at the Mt. Vernon’s Association of Community-Based Artists of Westchester (AC-BAW) Center for Arts & Culture Gallery, which was attended by the city’s mayor, a supporter of the arts,  Ernest Davis, on the Sunday prior to the conference.  The exhibition was curated by NCA artists/educator, M.L.J. Johnson. The New York chapter organized their second annual artist and college student talk, “A Gathering of Creative Forces”, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the first one, in 2000, was held at the Schomburg). Veteran artists Bob Blackburn, Ann Tanksley, Emmett Wigglesworth and Ademola Olugebefola shared their experiences with students from New York City colleges.

        Donna Williams-Sutton, director of outreach for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, welcomed students and introduced other staffers who spoke of career opportunities at museums, including the Met, that students should explore while still in school. There are many internships that lead to full time jobs, in various areas of museum work, that are not apparent to the outsider. Students were subsequently sent applications to apply for internships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The conference opened with a ceremony at the Foley Square site of the Lorenzo Pace monument “Triumph of the Human Spirit” with a libation poured by Manbo Asogwe (high priestess) Mama Do (a/k/a/ Dorothy Desir) assisted by Deborah Johnson and drummers lead by Atiba Kwabena Wilson & Songhai Djeli with James Sepyo of the Congo Square Drummers. A procession marched the one-block distance to the African Burial Grounds where Atiba poured a libation and NCA members and friends called out the names of those artists and honorees that had recently joined the ancestors: Jacob Lawrence, John Biggers, John W. Rhoden, Al Hollingsworth, Mfon Essien, Edsel Reid, Abdul Rahman, Huey Lee Smith, and others that passed since our last conference, Lois Mailou Jones, Dr. Selma Burke, and NCA Chairman of the Board, Dr. Eddie Jack Jordan. Original poems were read by Deborah Johnson, (Human Cargo in the Middle Passage), Kwame Brathwaite (Those Bones), and poet laureate of the African Liberation Struggle, George Edward Tait recites his Skeletal Blues.

After a viewing of the artwork in the lobby of the government building that sits on the burial grounds, conference attendees ascended to the top floor conference rooms for two dynamic panels: “Public Art: Harriet Tubman Boulevard & Abolitionists Corner” revealing the plans for the development of two of Harlem’s popular streets, St. Nicholas Avenue, soon to be renamed Harriet Tubman Blvd. (at my initiative), and Frederick Douglass Blvd by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, and “Artists of the African Burial Grounds.”

       Ghislaine Hernandez, of the Manhattan Borough President’s Land Use Commission, presented a comprehensive look at the proposed plan that would renovate a stretch of Harlem and honor two giants of America’s history.
Dorothy Desir, is not only a priestess, healer and diviner in the rites of Haitian Vodou, but also an arts administrator, curator and writer trained in Anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University with a Master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Barnard College. Ms Desir is currently the Director of Community Arts Initiative at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She delivered an exquisite analysis of the art of the burial grounds, which features work by Barbara Chase-Riboud, Houston Conwil, and not yet installed, sculpture by Mel Edwards. Since the early 1990’s, Dorothy has played major role in advising, directing, selecting the public art projects of the General Services Administration Federal Art & Architecture divisional project, The African Burial Ground. 
       Dr. Sheryl Wilson, of the Office of Education and Interpretation of the African burial Grounds, gave a talk on the history of the site, the discovery and exhumation and the study of the remains, and the problems that exist in completing the work and the much delayed re-interment.
       Lorenzo Pace described the creation of his monument and the children’s book that he subsequently published. He had just made it back from Chicago where he buried his 24 year-old son who was murdered a little over a week prior to the conference. 

       Opening day also featured the opening of the NCA Invitational Exhibition at The Corridor Gallery, hosted by Danny Simmons and curated by Brenda Branch. As usual for openings at the Corridor, a large and vibrant group of art lovers turned out to greet the NCA members including founder Dr. Margaret Burroughs, still going strong at 83. 
       Day two, Thursday, featured a day in Harlem with panels at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and an awards luncheon at Harlem Windows Restaurant in the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., State Office Building, honoring some of New York’s top Black Art Galleries. Awards were presented to Loris Crawford  and Savacou, Ruth Jett and Cinque Gallery,  Danny Simmons and Rush Arts Gallery, Corrine Jennings and Kenkeleba Gallery, Bill Saunders and AC-BAW,  Harlem’s M Gallery,  Eric Pryor and The Skylight Gallery, and Bob Blackburn and his Bob Blackburn Printmaker’s Workshop. 

Mr. Blackburn was very visible during the conference and seemed to be having more fun than all of us. Here Bob shares a moment with Dr. Roslyn Jeffries.

       Thursday evening was a very big evening indeed. It featured a jam-packed, invitation-only lecture by Dr. David Driskell, “Collecting African American Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dr. Driskell is on the Board of Directors of NCA. It began with a reception at The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing, followed by the talk centered around African American art in the Metropolitan, and the Camille O. and William H. Cosby Collection, of which Dr. Driskell is the curator. David also signed copies of his most recent publication on the Cosby’s Collection, The Other Side of Color, published by Pomegranate Communications.

       Concurrently, the opening of Art of the Masters: A Survey of African-American Images: 1980 – 2000 at The Schomburg was in full swing. The show included such notables as Jacob Lawrence, John Biggers, Romare Bearden, Lois Mailou Jones, Al Hollingsworth, Benny Andrews, Margaret Burroughs, Willis Bing Davis, David Driskell, Jon Lockard, Richard Mayhew, Otto Neals, Ann Tanksley, Emmett Wigglesworth, Adger Cowans and Kwame Brathwaite to name a few. 
       The evening was capped off by a stunning fashion experience, FashionArt – Gateway to Africa, the NCA wearable art fashion extravaganza featuring The Amandla Models and designers Greta Wallace / Simply Greta, Audrey Weaver / Scarf Dressing, Dindga McCannon, Denise Goring / Artwear, Sadikisha Collier, Twain Revell / Twain’s Twines, Khalil / Threads by Khalil and Brenda Brunson-Bey / Tribal Truths. There is talk about making this a traveling show available to NCA chapters, other conventions and independent promoters. 

              Friday’s featured event was the NCA National Memorial Awards Banquet at the Harlem Windows Restaurant. NCA honored John Biggers, Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, Lorenzo Pace, Dr. Caroline Maitland and The MTA Arts for Transit Program. There was also a surprise award for our very own NCA New York Newsletter columnist, Joan Banks.  And we really did surprise her.

       Saturday was a great day in Brooklyn, or as were refer to it here in New York, “The People’s Republic of Brooklyn”. Panels were held at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Center, where we had The Big Shoot in the Plaza. Some conference registrants missed it, as they were shopping at the boroughs Black fashion strip, Bogolan Brooklyn. Big shoot photos will be available from the New York host chapter, (212) 410-7892.

       The NCA National Exhibition opened at The Skylight Gallery. The show, curated by Jewel Golden, featured artists from the various chapters throughout the U.S., including Brenda Branch, James Brown, Luzviminda Calo, Yvonne Parks Catchings, Kitty Chavis, Pat Davis, Miriam Francis, Frank Frazier, M. Saffell Gardiner, Jimmy James Greene, Izell Glover, Jewel Golden, MLJ Johnson, Cheryl Hanna, Charlotte Ka, Eli Kince, Dubaka Kweku Leigh, Carolyn Maitland, Ademola Olugebefola, Lorenzo Pace, Aaron Ibn Pori Pitts, Eric Pryor, Ed Sherman, Diane Smith, Tei Sing Smith Albert Shaw, Sheila Beckles Wigglesworth, Shirley Woodson and many other fine artists. The show will be up through June 12.

       It seemed that everyone was on the upbeat, artistically and spiritually, and rarin’ to go. Panels like ENTITLED: Empowered Women Artists with Nanette Carter, Cora Marshall, Charlotte Ka, Eve Sandler, Shellie Williams and Jamillah Jennings, gave the sisters a time to speak their mind, as they should.

      AFRICOBRA SPEAKING! Was a powerful session with historical significance, and memories galore for us veterans. Nelson Stevens, Akili Ron Anderson, Adger Cowans and Frank Smith did a fine job of bringing back an important era in our history.

National Wearable Art 
Fashion Extravaganza
April 12^th
Immediately after the Master's Opening.

Honoring Jacob Lawrence & John Biggers (posthumously), Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, Gordon Parks, Lorenzo Pace, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, Dr. Carolyn Maitland, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Arts for Transit Program. 
Ghana Conference 2002 Auction
Harlem Window Restaurant - Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Harlem State Office Building, 163 West 125th Street