The William Grant Still Arts Center is located at 2520 S West View Street in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1977, WGSAC has offered music and art classes for adults and youth, an exhibition space, concerts, and space for community meetings and gatherings for its surrounding neighborhood.
History
The William Grant Still Arts Center was established with in collaboration with the local community and then-councilman David S. Cunningham Jr.. The building was constructed in 1929 to for the City of Los Angeles Fire Department Engine Company No. 67. In 1976, the building was renovated to serve as a community arts facility for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. In 1977, it was transformed into a community arts center with a central exhibition space in the main rotunda, exhibition and meeting rooms, offices, kitchen, and outdoor patio and amphitheater.[1][2]
The center was named in honor of composer Dr. William Grant Still. "Troubled Island," the opera Dr. Still wrote with a libretto by Langston Hughes, is commemorated on the south side of the building in the alleyway in a 2003 mural created by artist Noni Olabisi, with assistance from Brother Boko.[3][4]
Exhibitions
The center’s calendar operates in four quarters, each one dedicated to specific cultural themes and artistic disciplines.
Annual Black Doll Show
For nearly 40 years, the William Grant Still Arts Center has presented the Annual Black Doll Show, an original exhibition of Black dolls from artists, collectors, and the local community. [4]
Black Doll Show exhibitions
2022 – 42nd Annual - Fun and Games
2021 – 41st Annual - Black Doll Magic
2020 – 40th Annual - All Dolled Up: A 40 Year Celebration of the WGSAC Annual Black Doll Show
2019 – 39th Annual - Psychedollia
2018 – 38th Annual - Double Dutch: A Celebration of Black Girlhood
2017 – 37th Annual - Jubilee, Celebrations in Color[5]
2016 – 36th Annual - Paper Plastic Ceramic and Wood
2015 – 35th Annual - Trench Art Retrospective: The War Against HIV/AIDS – Women Of The African Diaspora In The Trenches
Educational programs include art, movement and music classes for seniors, adults, teens, children, including early childhood education.[23]
In 2015, the WGSAC and community members collaborated with professional archivists and local historians to develop West Adams Collectors Club, took place over the course of eight Saturdays from March 14 – May 2, 2015.[24]
Art & Jazz Summer Day Camp
Art and Jazz Summer day camp for ages 3–12, jazz-based ensemble instruction, partnerships with teachers at local schools and universities; and readings, film screenings, and concerts throughout the year.
Community workshops
The WGSAC offers community workshops that irange from drawing, arts & craft, percussion, keyboard, tap dancing, and physical exercise. The WGSAC also offers doll-making workshops to share the tradition of doll-making practices.
^Jones, Kellie (2017). South of Pico: African American Artists in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s. Duke University Press. p. 172. ISBN978-0-8223-6164-0.