African-American Composers Series

The African-American Composer Exhibition and Music Education Series began at The William Grant Still Arts Center in 2009. This exhibition series selects and celebrates the life and work of an African-American composer annually. Panels, concerts, exhibits, workshops, and other programs bring the exhibit to life.

The exhibition series is held in conjunction with The William Grant Still Arts Center’s African-American Heritage Education Program. Our Center focuses on teaching art skills, cultural history, and music through practice and playing experience via the works of groundbreaking musical innovators in the tradition of our namesake, Dr. William Grant Still, to beginning and intermediate students of all ages.

This Year

Back On The Planet: The Spacebase Archives of Ras_G and the Afrikan Space Program

March 30 – June 15, 2024

Past Year Exhibitions

Spring 2023 – Bullerengue & Beyond
Spring 2022 – Quadraphonic
Spring 2021 – Prayer Protest Peace: 13 Years of African American Composers at William Grant Still Arts Center
Spring 2020 – Willie Bobo
Spring 2019 – Music is Art, Music is Philosophy, Music is History: The Legacy of Dr. William Grant Still
Spring 2018 – How The West Got Funked Up!
Spring 2017 – Nearly Gone Gal: The Rescued Archives of Nellie Lutcher
Spring 2016 – So What! The Artistry of Miles Davis
Spring 2015 – Love You Madly – A Portrait of Duke Ellington
Spring 2014 – I Got My Pride – The Blues Tales of Leadbelly
Spring 2013 – Arkestry of the Cosmos – The Universe Language of Sun Ra
Spring 2012 – Deeds Not Words – The Life and Work of Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln
Spring 2011 – A New Day – Nina Simone
Spring 2010- The High Priest of Bop – The Jazz Odyssey of Thelonious Monk
Spring 2009 – Charles Mingus (as part of the DCA Musical Caravan, through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts)

A detail shot of the exhibition How the West Got Funked Up! (2018). The exhibition featured original vinyl and posters, as seen above.

An exhibition wall featuring a portrait of Ms. Lutcher and her archives from the 2015 Nearly Gone Gal: The Rescued Archives of Nellie Lutcher. Many of the objects featured in this exhibition were rescued from being discarded.