Message from the Director

….A New Day Begun…

The Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center at North Brentwood is not intended to be merely a repository of items from the past. Instead it will be a modern, world class, state of the art community focused site of learning, celebration, and creativity. Indeed if it is to effectively serve as the anchor, the crown jewel and the major economic engine of the Gateway Arts District, it must be planned as a venue where the past, present, and future comfortably meet, intersect and interact. It will be a site at which citizens and visitors to the County can encounter what the American Association for State and Local History describes as moments that have the power to delight, enrich and inspire. At the same time it must serve as a new type of town square or forum---a meeting place for the arts, artists, and community members. It should provide a space where the public can participate in the creative process as well as observe it and learn from it.

The Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center at North Brentwood will serve the County in a number of ways. It will be a container. The building will become home to the material culture which reflects the full spectrum of African American social and cultural activities in the County and at times it will house items that reflect the Black experience from regional, national and international perspectives. As the home to historical objects, documents and artifacts as well as works of art, the museum as container becomes the steward of the community’s treasures, creating a sacred and unique bond between the public and institution. The museum’s board and staff will act as conveners, bringing together diverse groups of people to create new approaches to cultural understanding. The museum will be a connector. It will actively link people and ideas. The museum and cultural center should serve as a catalyst. Its programs, exhibitions, and special and commemorative events should provoke new awareness, discussion and exploration. Finally, the museum building should reflect a strong sense of place. Its architectural design should ultimately speak to its location in the Gateway Arts District and Prince George’s County.

Two program initiatives are in the early stages of development:

The first, Reading Black, will link the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center at North Brentwood to the statewide curriculum developed at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture. It will foster collaborative relationships with the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, The Prince George’s Literacy Council, local authors and bookstores, the Maryland Humanities Council and events such as the Capital Bookfest.

The second project, Arts of Praise is a research, documentation and public programming endeavor that will explore the aesthetics of African American worship traditions in the County. Anticipated outcomes include a two-day symposium in 2010, workshops, and concerts featuring sacred music and sacred and liturgical dance.

The Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center at North Brentwood is poised to become national model because of the commitment to employ best practices and standards in the planning process, the decision to define itself as a community focused museum committed to civic engagement; and because of the commitment to utilize local expertise whenever appropriate and possible in order to ensure that the museum and ultimately the museum experience will accurately reflect a sense of the place known as Prince George’s County Maryland.