SUPPORTING THE ARTS
Charlottesville Players Guild
Season tickets available for 2024-25
JSAAHC’s Charlottesville Players Guild is on a mission to make sure every Black artist knows what it is like to create within a completely Black space.
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center Welcomes Newly Elected Board Members
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center is pleased to announce four new members to our Board of Directors. New board members include James Bland, Airea Garland, Gary Sandling, and Chris Tate.
“I am pleased to welcome James, Airea, Gary, and Chris as new Board members, “said Dr. Andrea Douglas, Executive Director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. “These individuals each bring unique talents and expertise and will be tremendous assets to the Heritage Center as we further our mission to honor, uplift, and promote a greater understanding of the contributions of African Americans in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.”
Tate, attorney for Flora Pettit, was elected at the most recent board meeting in June. He joins Bland, who serves as Director of the Center for Diversity in Engineering at the University of Virginia, Airea Garland, owner of Mac and Mae, and Gary Sandling, Vice President of Historic Area Operations at Colonial Williamsburg, elected in March.
About Our Center
Located in the Jefferson School City Center, The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center’s mission is to honor and preserve the rich heritage and legacy of the African-American community of Charlottesville-Albemarle, Virginia and to promote a greater appreciation for, and understanding of, the contributions of African Americans and peoples of the Diaspora locally, nationally and globally.
The Center features a permanent historical exhibit, a rotating contemporary art gallery, and a robust calendar of events, all of which combine to highlight Charlottesville’s African American history and culture of the African diaspora.
Swords Into Plowshares is entering into its second community engagement phase. In this phase we are asking Charlottesville to help determine where a work of public art could be located in our community. We hope that you will participate by completing a short survey about your park usage. It only takes 3 minutes to complete.
Our goal in the next year is to focus on our area’s parks as cultural landscapes. Through research, guided tours, and community conversations we will continue to educate ourselves about the role public art can play in shifting centers and changing minds.
Swords Into Plowshares is a project of our Center For Local Knowledge which hopes to use research to further social justice.
We are hiring! We are looking for a researcher to get us to our next milestone. Click here for job description. All applications should be sent to [email protected]
Help us plan for the future by taking our survey.
Help share authentic history by becoming a guide.
We will be closed July 4 and 5, 2024 in observance of the holiday.
It’s Wednesday 11:55 am EST — Sorry, we’re closed. Visit us when we’re open!
Contemporary Gallery
Nic(o) Brierre Aziz: Haiti Across the Water
1 June – 31 August, 2024
Nic(o) Brierre Aziz is a Haitian-New Orleanian interdisciplinary artist and curator born and raised in New Orleans, LA. His current practice is deeply community focused and rooted around the utilization of under discussed personal and collective histories to reimagine the future. His work is also very centered around the Caribbean Diaspora and he is interested in Blackness as an experience, construct and capitalist tool.
The exhibition features works produced in the last five years that critically consider such things as history, migration, white supremacy and the lives of Black males. About his practice Aziz asserts that he “seeks to create work from the dark matter that uplifts and heals, while exposing truths that enable us all to tread down a more collectively harmonious path of liberation.”
Aziz is the recipient of several artist residencies and fellowships and most recently, was selected as a 2020 Andy Warhol Foundation Curatorial Fellow and a 2021 Joan Mitchell Center Artis-in-Residence.
The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of a private collection, Yale School of Art, and the JSAAHC Annual Fund.
Alice Ivory: Sculpting in Metal
14 September – 14 December, 2024
Become a Member
Join today and be part of our vision for 2023 and beyond!
As a JSAAHC Member you’ll receive:
- Free admission to exhibits and events.
- Discounts on workshops, lectures, and programs.
- Invitations to members-only events.
- Discounts in Alumni Room Museum Shop and Café
- And much more.
Spotlight Events & Programs
EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY
Community Guides
New class begins Saturday, September 16, 2023 and continues each Saturday until October 28!
Public history is fun! We invite you to help us make Charlottesville our open air classroom. Learn local history and African American art history on Saturdays from 9am to 12pm. Apply to become a community guide today.
HONORING OUR HISTORY
Center for Local Knowledge
By appointment Tuesday through Saturday & every third Saturday 10am–12pm
The Center for Local Knowledge promotes the study of Charlottesville and Albemarle County local histories and fosters a deeper understanding of our community’s lived environment.
PRESERVING OUR LEGACY
Exhibition Showcase
Gallery available Tuesday through Friday 1pm–6pm and Saturdays 10am–1pm
Guided tours of our permanent and contemporary exhibitions are available for groups of 10–30 adults. Book your tour or view tour dates and time availability on our calendar.
Covid Policy: Due to limited space in exhibition galleries and our desire to keep us all safe, visitors must now obtain a general admission ticket to visit. Groups are limited to no more than eight people. Groups must obtain a timed group ticket.
Hours
Daily 1.00 pm–6.00 pm
Location
233 4th St NW, Charlottesville, VA 22903
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Upcoming Events
Hours
Heritage Center
Tuesday – Friday 1.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Saturday 10 am – 1 pm
Closed Monday & Sunday
Jefferson Heritage African American Center © 2020. All Rights Reserved