A celebration of Black musical and visual arts, the kick-off for the Living Legacies project, occurs November 2. The project will “celebrate the past and connect the past to the present.”
The Fredericksburg Area Museum announced today the return of the Fredericksburg Area Black Arts Festival on November 2.
The festival, wrote FAM Vice President of Programs and Interpretation Gaila Sims in an email, is a “descendant of the Harambee 360º Black Arts Festival founded by Mr. Clarence Todd here in Fredericksburg in the 1970s.” It will happen on Saturday, November 2nd from 12-7 p.m. in Market Square and Riverfront Park.
In addition to the visual and musical artistry on display, this year’s Black Arts Festival “will also mark the launch of the FAM’s new Community Scanning Project!,” wrote Sims.
Photos and Legacies
The Community Scanning Project is a key part of a new exhibit coming to FAM on May 30, 2025 — Living Legacies: African American History in the Fredericksburg Area — which is being dedicated to Ms. Gaye Adegbalola.
Sims told the Advance in a phone call that the exhibit will run “for at least three years,” and is the “biggest exhibit the museum has ever done.”
The goal of the exhibit, Sims told to the Advance, is to “Celebrate the past and connect the past to the present.” People will be able to explore “the legacies of the hard parts (segregation and enslavement) but also the legacies of families, community members, and care for one another that’s defined the Fredericksburg Black community.”
A key part of this exhibit will be the Living Legacies gallery wall. Community members are invited to bring up to five photographs to FAM — digital or physical — for scanning and inclusion on the wall.
While the Black Arts Festival is the official kick-off for the Community Scanning Project, people can upload photos now by visiting the Living Legacies website, or bringing their photos by the museum. Sims writes that “photographs will be scanned and then returned immediately.”
Sims continued: “We want pictures of grandparents, of reunions, of picnics and get-togethers and goofy moments and serious moments and everything in between.”
(Questions and additional information can be directed to Curatorial Specialist Kylie Thomson at FAM.)
Volunteer
The museum is looking for volunteers to help with the event by attending entrances and other spaces in roughly 2.5-hour blocks. If you’re interested in taking part on November 2, consider signing up.
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