Institutional Advancement * Division of Communications * 830 Westview Drive, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30314

Morehouse College Initiates Project Addressing Parallels Between African
and African-American Contemporary Art

March 4, 2002, Atlanta, Ga. - Morehouse College is announcing a new project to enhance African-Americans' interest in the Arts and Humanities. The African-American/South African Shared Understanding Project, which is partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities, will focus on the parallels between contemporary South African and African-American art.

"Shared Understanding" is designed to bolster interest and knowledge in the arts and humanities at AUC institutions and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as communities served by these institutions.

An important outcome of this project is the filling of a void at HBCUs and museums by providing a mechanism for addressing the appreciation of contemporary African and African-American art of the last half of the 20th century.

Therefore, the project also will provide the infrastructure for collecting, housing and presenting contemporary South African and African-American art. Ultimately, this project is a key element to achieving Morehouse College's initiative to create a world-class facility featuring art of the African Diaspora.

Morehouse College President, Dr. Walter E. Massey, says the effort will be the springboard for the College's initiative to broaden exposure of its students to the arts and humanities. "As a liberal arts institution striving for excellence in all areas," Massey says, "I am particularly enthused about the National Endowment of the Humanities' involvement in this endeavor with Morehouse College."

The African-American/South African Shared Understanding Project will include two workshops, an art exhibition and an Advisory Board to monitor and support the development and expansion of new and existing curriculum in the humanities.

The first of two workshops will take place in May 2002, during the academic school year. It will be made available to the humanities faculty at four of the six Atlanta University Center member institutions: Clark Atlanta University, and Morehouse, Morris Brown and Spelman colleges.

The second workshop will take place during the National Black Arts Festival in July 2002.

Dr. Herbert Charles, Director of the Morehouse College Art Initiative, says the goal of partnering with the National Black Arts Festival is to impact the largest, most diverse audience possible. "This could be the beginning of a movement in the examination and appreciation of contemporary art from the African Diaspora," Charles says, "The project is structured to serve as a model that can be replicated at other colleges and museums."

Laura Greer, associate producer of the National Black Arts Festival, agrees the project is a winning collaboration, "Each year we locate key portions of the Festival events on campuses of The Atlanta University Center, encouraging visitation by festival-goers and increasing the visibility of the campuses to Atlantans and others".

The Smithsonian Institution will provide support for the exhibitions presented in conjunction with the workshops.

Ranked the number one college in the nation for educating African American students by Black Enterprise magazine, Morehouse College is the nation's largest liberal arts college for men. Founded in 1867, the College enrolls approximately 3,000 students and confers bachelor's degrees on more black men than any other institution in the world. In addition to offering 36 majors in the humanities, natural and social sciences, Morehouse offers a number of programs and activities to enhance its challenging liberal arts curriculum through the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, Morehouse Research Institute, and Andrew Young Center for International Affairs.

Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader; Dr. David Satcher, U.S. Surgeon General; Sheldon "Spike" Lee, filmmaker and president of 40 Acres & A Mule Productions; Maynard H. Jackson, president of Jackson Securities and the first African-American mayor of Atlanta; and Nima A. Warfield, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar from an historically black college or university.

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