Over $116,000 in Grant Awards for the

African-American Cultural Arts & History Center

Burlington, NC | Land of the Eno, Shakori, Occaneechi + Saponi

January - July 2021

The African-American Cultural Arts & History Center (AACAHC or The Center, for short) of Alamance County was awarded over $116,000 in grant funding in 2021 from 4 different local and regional organizations including: Impact Alamance, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the Alamance Community Foundation, and the Alamance County Visitors Bureau (Visit Alamance).

AACAHC serves as a cultural site and museum focusing on personal, familial and generational, industrial, and commercial history. From unearthing the stories of the numerous individuals who have made a lasting impact on the community to providing a library of Black authors, the Center is committed to creating a public institution in Alamance County.

Grants awarded include: $59,000 from Impact Alamance that went toward signage, exhibit and archival infrastructure; $49,600 from Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation toward event programming for two years; $4,973 from the Alamance Community Foundation went toward rent and wages; and $3,000 from Visit Alamance funded marketing efforts. From Impact Alamance, a 2020 grant award of $4,000 funded Motley Local as the grant writing team and a donation of $5,000 allowed for the purchase of a storefront sign, as well as the installation of a security alarm system. $50,000 in exhibition infrastructure funds from Impact Alamance’s Community Health Fund will bring display cases and monitors to best showcase AACAHC’s curated museum collection and digital exhibits.

“This funding will amplify the incredible work of [AACAHC] to provide an important cultural educational experience in Alamance County,” explains Tracey Grayzer, President of Impact Alamance. “This funding will allow the Museum to create exhibit experiences that will engage Alamance residents in this important endeavor of understanding our full past so that we are able to build a better future.”

The $49,600 from Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s Community Progress Fund is being allocated over two years to fund a series of annual, cultural programs that AACAHC has hosted since its incorporation in 2017. This funding also includes an anti-racism “Groundwater” presentation hosted at the Center and facilitated by the Racial Equity Institute.

“We are proud to support the Center’s Alamance Black Culture Preservation initiative as the organization works to bring additional programming, workshops, and tourism-based events related to African American and Black history and culture to the residents of Alamance County and surrounding areas,” says Sorien Schmidt, Senior Program Officer at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.