Black Arts and Heritage Organizations in Washington State
Published: June 4, 2020
Categories: Artists Supporting Artists | Racial Equity Framework | Resources
There is no artist community without Black voices, Black stories, and Black artwork. Below is a growing list of Black-founded and Black-led arts and heritage organizations in Washington State. To show your support, please consider donating to these organizations.
If you want to add to this growing list, please email Luther at luther@artisttrust.org.
Last updated: January 30, 2024
African-American Writers’ Alliance
The African-American Writers’ Alliance, a diverse and dynamic collective of Seattle-area writers of African descent, provides an informal and supportive forum for new and published writers.
Afrolatino Festival
Presented by professional artists, attendees have a unique opportunity to explore and learn about Afro-Latino culture and history from some of its top performers.
http://www.afrolatinofestival.org/home.html
Arté Noir
Arté Noir is creating space, stability, opportunity, and training to serve the needs of the displaced Black creative community with a permanent location at Midtown Square. The combination of an art gallery, retail space, and recording studio is currently under construction and set to open in summer 2022, as the anchor retail space within the new Midtown Square development in the Central District at 23rd & Union.
The physical space is a complement to the existing online publication that celebrates and spotlights the dynamic creativity of the Black arts community – locally, nationally, and internationally. With a focus on people, Arté Noir shines a light on the makers, thinkers, and doers who are, and have been, innovating in their fields; centering the soulfulness and power of Black art. Arté Noir exists to uplift Black artists!
Arts Corps
Arts Corps revolutionizes arts education by igniting the creative power of young people through culturally engaging learning experiences.
Black Arts Legacies
Black Arts Legacies highlights the long-standing, vital and ongoing role of Black artists and arts organizations in Seattle.
https://blackartslegacies.crosscut.com/
Black Heritage Society
The Black Heritage Society of Washington State, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acquisition, preservation and exhibition of materials relating to the history and culture of African-Americans in the State of Washington.
Buffalo Soldiers Museum
Tacoma’s Buffalo Soldiers Museum has served as a community resource encompassing a significant – and all too often overlooked – facet of American history. It is part of our overall historical education efforts.
http://www.buffalosoldierstacoma.org/
CD Forum
Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas is the only local, nonprofit organization solely dedicated to presenting emerging Black arts, artists, and ideas in the Seattle area.
City of Light Gallery
City of Light is a globally minded, locally rooted cultural institution dedicated to illuminating & collaborating with the most prolific, profound, and compelling artists of our time.
https://www.cityoflightgallery.com/
Creative Justice
Creative Justice builds community with youth most impacted by the school-to-prison-(to-deportation) pipeline. Participants and mentor artists work together to examine the root causes of incarceration, like systemic racism and other forms of oppression, creating art that articulates the power and potential of our communities.
https://www.creativejusticenw.org/
Gansango
Gansango Music & Dance presents traditional and contemporary dance and music from West Africa – drawing on the stunning talent of multicultural dancers and musicians.
Jackson Street Music Program
The Jackson Street Music Program’s Youth Developmental Objectives have a strong focus on the communication and creative thinking skills we believe youth participants will need in the future for the Global Economy. Our program provides youth participants with an opportunity to experience great music but, we also address the needs and concerns of community investors regarding the productive capability of our youth in the future.
https://arielmedia.com/jackson-street-music-program/
Key to Change
Key to Change inspires underserved youth through world-class music instruction and supports their development as self-aware leaders.
Kouyate Arts
Kouyate Arts is an African performance company in Seattle, Washington.
Kutt’N’Up Entertainment
Kutt‘N’Up is a dance family that consists of youth all over the greater Seattle area. Our mission is to succeed in all aspects of life including but not limited to grades, responsibility, and accountability.
LANGSTON
LANGSTON is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization, established in 2016 to lead programming within the historic Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. LANGSTON guides generative programs and community partnerships that center Black art, artists and audiences and honor the ongoing legacy of Seattle’s Black Central Area.
Martyr Sauce
Tariqa Waters opened Martyr Sauce, a gallery in Pioneer Square, in 2012, showcasing underrepresented artists.
Movimiento AfroLatino Seattle
Movimiento Afrolatino Seattle is an an umbrella organization created by Afrolatino communities and artists that appreciate Afrolatino arts and culture coming together to ensure the sustainability of ongoing cultural and education arts activities focused on Afrolatinos and open to anyone who is interested in learning and preserving this rich cultural heritage.
Northwest African American Museum
NAAM’s mission is to spread knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of the histories, arts, and cultures of people of African descent for the enrichment of all.
Northwest Tap Dance Connection
Northwest Tap Connection is a distinctive urban dance studio specializing in Rhythm Tap. The studio’s philosophy is that dance enriches the lives of the students, while developing self-discipline, instilling self-confidence, and encouraging achievement and goal setting.
https://www.nwtapconnection.org/
Oni Arts Collective
OAC is a cultural arts education company that provides creative arts experiences for youth and families using various genres of art through culture.
https://www.instagram.com/oniartscollective/
Onyx Fine Arts Collective
Onyx is organized by the voluntary efforts of a group of artists and supporters committed to celebrate and promote the visual artwork of artists of African descent.
PRICEarts
PRICEarts, a place to cultivate community and education in various fine and performing arts disciplines. We are a community with a conscious devoted to responding to the needs of those in the cities we dwell in.
Puckduction
Our mission is to support BIPOC and LBGTQ+ creators, with a focus on neo-burlesque, cabaret and film. We aim to educate the general public about these art forms while providing space and financial compensation for marginalized performing artists.
https://www.mxpucksaplenty.com/puckduction
South Seattle Emerald
Founded as a platform that authentically depicts the dynamic voices, culture, arts, ideas, and businesses that fall within South Seattle’s borders, the Emerald is news as it was originally intended to be: not as business, nor as a forum for propaganda, but as a service to the community it chronicles.
https://southseattleemerald.com/
Spectrum Dance Theater
Spectrum Dance Theater brings dance of the highest merit to a diverse audience composed of people from different social, cultural, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.
Terrain
Located in Spokane WA, Terrain is a pioneering non-profit building community and economic opportunity for the artists, makers and culture creators of the Inland Northwest.
https://www.terrainspokane.com/
The Black Embodiments Studio
The Black Embodiments Studio is hybrid arts writing incubator and a public lecture series dedicated to expansive and dynamic investigations of blackness in contemporary art.
https://www.blackembodiments.org/
The Black Lens
The Black Lens is an independent community publication, based in Spokane, Washington, that is focused on the news, events, people, issues, and information of importance to the African American community.
The Hansberry Project
The Hansberry Project is rooted in the convictions that black artists should be at the center of the artistic process, that the community deserves excellence in its art, and that theatre’s fundamental function is to put people in relationship to one another.
The Mahogany Project
Realizing that there weren’t many opportunities in the Arts for African-American women, they decided to develop a project that would create more opportunities for them. The women of The Mahogany Project committed to collaborating in hopes of creating opportunities for local Seattle theatre artists.
https://www.mahoganyproject.org/
Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center
Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center’s mission is to provide our most deserving youth world class opportunities to achieve Artistic Excellence in the Performing Arts.
https://tacomaupac.org/t-u-p-a-c
Umoja Fest
Umoja Fest honors our rich heritage while recognizing our ability to make history. The festival and parade celebrates our collective ability to make ourselves, our families, community, city, state, nation and world a better place for our future generations.
Unified Outreach
Unified Outreach’s mission is to assist under-served, at-risk, disabled, and arts-starved youth with personal growth and character building using the Arts to break down racial, economic, and social barriers, to inspire creativity, to build confidence, and to promotion positive self-esteem.
Wa Na Wari
Wa Na Wari creates space for Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection. We are a center for Black art and culture in Seattle’s historically redlined Central District neighborhood.
Wonder of Women International
Wonder of Women (WOW) creates sacred spaces for storytelling, healing through art, performances, and retreats for Black women and girls. They publish inspiring Black art tools and products to support Black women and girls find their voice through storytelling and sisterhood as well.
https://www.thewonderofwomen.org/
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