National Center of Afro-American Artists records

Founded by Elma Ina Lewis in 1968 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, the National Center of Afro-American Artists was established in response to concerns raised at a conference of African American artists who met in Chicago in the mid-1960s, stemming from the lack of a comprehensive, national institutional center for African American artists.  As a Boston-based, professional, multi-disciplinary arts organization, the National Center of Afro-American Artists was created to fill this void.  The National Center of Afro-American Artists became not only a regional platform but also a national one for African American visual and performing artists.  In 1969 the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists was established as a division of the National Center of Afro-American Artists to educate, promote, exhibit, and collect African, Caribbean, and Afro American fine arts.  In 1973 the National Center of Afro-American Artists brought under its wing the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, which became the teaching division of the National Center of Afro-American Artists.  Founded by Elma Lewis in 1950, the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts offered classes in art, dance, drama, costuming, and music to hundreds of youth and adult students annually.  During a time of political and racial strife, Lewis sought to bring peace and unity through the School's Playhouse in the Park program, a summer theater in Franklin Park which began in 1966 and featured Duke Ellington and other celebrities.  The Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts closed in 1990 after many years of financial difficulty.  As part of its administrative duties, the National Center of Afro-American Artists oversaw the public relations, financial, and development activities of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, and the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists.

Since its founding, the National Center of Afro-American Artists has had a wide-reaching influence across the United States and overseas through projects with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, Massachusetts); international partnerships with Senegal, Ivory Coast, Barbados, and Haiti; and the annual Christmas musical, Black Nativity, which premiered in 1970.