Tickets are available to the Memphis Black Arts Legacy Honors & Ball

Jenae Wiggins and Steven Prince Tate perform in the MBAA Black Broadway Cabaret

MBAA students learn art from artist Joyce Green

Memphis Black Arts Alliance celebrates 40 years of excellence by honoring Memphians who have made an outstanding impact in local, national, or global artistry.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES, December 5, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In celebration of four decades of service to Greater Memphis, The Memphis Black Arts Alliance (MBAA) is hosting the largest event in its history - The Memphis Black Arts Legacy Honors & Ball. The Memphis Black Arts Legacy Honors & Ball will honor African American artists from Memphis who have made an outstanding impact in local, national, and/or global artistry. The Memphis Black Arts Legacy Honors & Ball will be held Saturday, December 17, 2022, at the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts. This evening of excellence will open with The Arts-A-F!RE Celebration Experience at 6:00 PM in the Grand Lobby followed by the Honors and Awards Ceremony at 7:00 PM. The Halloran Centre is located at 225 S. Main Street in downtown Memphis. This event is a fundraiser to help MBAA continue to provide a place for artists to engage, learn, and grow. Tickets can be purchased at www.memphisblackarts.org.

The honorees include TV & Film Actress Elise Neal; Recording Artist and Winner of “The Four” Evvie McKinney; Pulitzer Prize Winner, Writer, & Producer Katori Hall; Grammy Award Winning Producer Boo Mitchell; and Young Entrepreneur and Designer of Mo’s Bows Moziah Bridges.

Additional honorees include Acclaimed Rapper Al Kapone; World-Renowned Musician Jimmy Kinard; Esteemed Drummer Charles Streeter; Celebrated Music Professor/Producer Dr. Ashely Davis; Recording Artist and American Idol Finalist Lil Rounds; Award Winning Producer and Music Director Kurt Clayton; USA Today’s Best-Selling Author Angela K. Austin; Visual Artist Mosal Moszart; Applauded Dancer/Choreographer Eric Henderson; Hailed Make-Up Artist to the Stars Faizah Husniyah; Animator and Drama Series Creator Munirah Safiyah Jones; Film Wardrobe Designer/Stylist and Actress Rekeitha Morris; and Broadway Touring Actress Alexis Tidwell-Bailey.

There will also be a special tribute to Bennie Nelson West, Founder of the Memphis Black Arts Alliance, Inc. Nelson West’s career as an arts administrator has spanned more than 50 years. She created MBAA in 1982 to serve as the city's first black arts incubator and network. MBAA began with 19 black arts organizations and over 100 black artists, providing space for them to learn and hone their crafts for performance and exhibition.

“We are excited to honor our 40-year history and the legacies of these extraordinary Memphians," said MBAA Executive Director Lar'Juanette Williams. “We are proud to celebrate each of them because of their major accomplishments and global artistic influence. Our honorees are artists of color who have set a standard of excellence throughout the world and the time has come for us to salute them for carrying the legacy of greatness. We look forward to heralding their work, sharing their stories, and showing our appreciation for their artistic genius,” she added.

The Memphis Black Arts Legacy Honors & Ball will be hosted by beloved 88.5 FM Radio Personality Michael Adrian Davis and Celebrity Chef, Cook Book Author, and Host of WMC-TV’s “Bluff City Life” Gina Neely.

The Memphis Black Arts Legacy Honors & Ball will have live music, dancing, food, silent auctions, and entertainment from the entrance to the stage and contains a historic tour through MBAA’s legendary Arts-A-F!RE, to today’s Creative Renaissance, and into an Afrofuturistic Artscape. It’s all done in the spirit of Sankofa, the mystic bird found in the MBAA logo that reminds us to draw from the past while nurturing the future.

For more information about The Memphis Black Arts Legacy Honors & Ball or to purchase tickets, visit www.memphisblackarts.org.

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About The Memphis Black Arts Alliance

The Memphis Black Arts Alliance, Inc. is a 501(c)3 public charity that is dedicated to improving the quality of life and economic well-being of Greater Memphis through the preservation, celebration, and advancement of African American arts, literature, and culture. Memphis Black Arts Alliance envisions imaginations ignited through African American arts and culture radiating from Historic Beale Street to Soulsville, Orange Mound and across Memphis, the Mid-South, and beyond, inspiring justice, equity, and sustainable community development. MBAA is committed to inspiring, educating, and engaging artists, arts organizations, and audiences toward the creation of just and equitable communities through creative forward-thinking and shared cultural experiences.

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