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Picture This: Art Input Needed for African American Center

The African American Cultural and Heritage Facility is slated to open this summer.
The African American Cultural and Heritage Facility is slated to open this summer.

If you had to pick 100 iconic individuals, who would you choose?

That’s the question for a meeting tonight discussing artwork at for Austin’s African American Cultural and Heritage Facility. The facility is slated to open this summer, and the city’s looking “to collect information about significant contributors to the advancement of Austin’s African American community.” The honorees will be included on a mural at the facility, featuring 100 portraits of African American luminaries.

A panel from the city’s African American Resource Advisory Commission and Art in Public Places Program will be hosting the event at the Street-Jones Building, 1000 E. 11th st., from 6-7p.m. The groups are looking for honorees that fit into the following categories:

  • Civic and Community Leadership
  • Educational Leadership
  • Health and Environmental Advocacy
  • Arts
  • Culture and Entertainment
  •  Faith-based Community Leadership      
  • Business and Economic Development

The mural will be crafted by Houston-based artist Reginald Adams.

The African American Cultural and Heritage Facility, under construction at 912 E. 11th st.. was initially funded via a 2006 bond election also providing funding for Asian-American and Mexican-American cultural centers. An infusion of $550,000 in federal stimulus dollars came later, with the shovel-ready requirement the center be open by 2012.

Wells has been a part of KUT News since 2012, when he was hired as the station's first online reporter. He's currently the social media host and producer for Texas Standard, KUT's flagship news program. In between those gigs, he served as online editor for KUT, covering news in Austin, Central Texas and beyond.