Road to 50th BDA Inc. Anniversary Legacy Project

We are seeking the support of our community to document— in exhibition, archive, and film— the vast and rich networks that have been touched by Black Dimensions in Art, Inc.

About BDA

In 1975, the founders of Black Dimensions in Art, Inc., engaged and inspired by the Black Arts Movement, civil rights movement, and Black liberation movement, applied this energy to create a supportive space to showcase nationally known Black Artists as well as their own community of Black artists. Author Mars Hill and artist Margaret Cunningham (founder of Hamilton Hill Arts Center) likely did not imagine, back in 1975, that nearly fifty years later the work of Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. would be thriving.

Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. (BDA) has played a pivotal role in bringing together and exhibiting both recognized and emerging artists of the African Diaspora. Through festivals, art exhibitions, public talks, and youth art education, BDA has left its mark on the Capital Region and beyond. A vital part of BDA's mission is to provide workshop opportunities for children of African descent. The children learn from and are inspired by artists who look like them, thereby planting the seeds for future artists.

For its 50th anniversary, BDA seeks to reflect upon this legacy, crafting a detailed record of its past, while pushing forward into the future. Specifically, we are seeking your support to fund a filmmaker who will present BDA as part of an artistic continuum of historic significance in the visual arts. The film will feature interviews with founding and current board members, collaborating organizations and institutions, as well as artists who have been exhibited in BDA exhibitions for over the past 50 years. The film will continue the work of documenting our own Black histories, our legacies, and the future of Black excellence supported and promoted by Black Dimensions in Art, Inc.

The first 500 donors will be listed as co-producers in the documentary credits.

If you would like to learn more about BDA please visit our website: blackdimensionsinart.org