African American Atelier celebrates 20 years (Greensboro)

GREENSBORO — Alma Adams looks around the African American Atelier’s offices and gallery and shakes her head at how quickly time has passed.

It doesn’t seem like 20 years ago, Adams said, when the Atelier opened in a shoebox of a space down the hall in the Greensboro Cultural Center.

“We didn’t even have room for an office,” said Adams, an Atelier founding member and its longtime curator.

The African American Atelier remains in the Greensboro Cultural Center, but the current Atelier has more than three times the space as its original location, giving it ample room for gallery exhibitions and work space for the staff. Adams and her staff still watch the budget closely, but Atelier supporters no longer worry about its week-to-week financial survival as they did in the early days.

To celebrate how far it has come — and to look ahead at where it wants to go — the Atelier is holding its biggest event to date to commemorate its 20th anniversary.

The celebration begins with an exhibit of artwork by the Atelier’s founding members, including James McMillan, Floyd Newkirk, Eva Hamlin Miller, John Rogers and others. The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 25 with an art auction on Jan. 15.

The January events launch a yearlong anniversary celebration.

The festivities continue in March when the Atelier hosts a national touring exhibit “The Art of James McMillan,” honoring the Greensboro artist and Atelier founding member. The exhibit was first shown at the Bakersfield (Calif.) Museum of Art in early 2010.

http://gotriad.news-record.com/content/2011/01/12/article/african_american_atelier_celebrates_20_years