Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative, Inc.

Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative believes in the arts as a unifying, powerful force.  It is strong enough to defy artificial barriers of class, race, and culture…and bring people together across these divisions. Over the past three years, we have created an IMPACT in the arts, education, and community.  These are the programs enriching our community and people of African descent. 

The Syllabus of Color 
Cultural Arts in Motion
Vision in Black Art Exhibitions
Arts and Racial Justice Discovery Series

Black Arts: Build...Advocate...Educate…Collaborate...Sustain.

Our Mission:
To nurture creativity and authentic expression, unifying and promoting the power of the arts across the regional and cultural landscape. 

Our Vision:
A community where the “arts” represent all cultures in music, dance, theatre, and the visual arts. 

Syllabus of Color: 2023 - 2024

The Syllabus of Color initiative is a comprehensive effort to tackle systemic disparities, and to engage families and cross-sector community partners to implement the principles of diversity and inclusion in art education for middle and high school students.  Throughout this program, college students studying the arts will serve as student-teachers.  As young ambassadors, they play a fundamental role in encouraging students to explore and participate in all forms of art. This year, we will be working with community organizations, including but not limited to: The Sarasota Housing Authority, The Newtown Estates Boys & Girls Club, and The Roy Mc Bean Boys & Girls Club.

Cultural Arts in Motion:

Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative will be working with the Newtown community organizations participating in the Syllabus of Color Program, the Westcoast Black Theater Troupe, Dance Next Generation, Sarasota Art Museum, Choral Artists of Sarasota, and other Community Organizations to host a family event for the Newtown community. This initiative is called Cultural Arts in Motion.  Our goal is not simply to host an event but rather an experience. The purpose of this family event is to deeply engage the community members in creative programming, including not only the children in each family but also the parents.

Arts and Racial Justice Discovery Series II:

The Arts and Racial Discovery Series II will bring arts organizations, Black leadership, and Newtown community organizations together for courageous conversations about inclusion and diversity in the arts. By nurturing creativity and authentic expression will unify and promote the power of the arts across the cultural landscape. Diversity is the first step in building a healthy community. How can we be more inclusive? How can we point out our blind spots, widen racial parity in our organizations and civic infrastructures, encourage diverse hiring criteria, and highlight opportunities for artists of African descent and students in our region to receive the arts in their lives? How can we offer access to the arts to both artists of African descent and audiences of color? This series will look hard at real-life challenges, provoke and question and, ultimately, explore transformative solutions. We envision this series II serving as a catalyst to bring about systemic change in programming for marginalized communities of color.

Visions in Black 2023/24/25/26:

Having a most successful and inclusive exhibition in 2023 celebrating A 3-part crosstown gallery collaboration and cross-pollination representing 54 artists of African descent from Tallahassee to Miami, Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative has forged a new mission and vision to: “elevate and celebrate what our cultural coast has to offer.”

We have the presence of multiple arts organizations and museums, and SBAC is building collaborations from Tampa to Sarasota engaging, advancing, and promoting artists of African descent in these venues. What SBAC has always been doing is to find a path of involving these entities to serve the cultural mix in creative exploration for artists of African descent and our marginalized student populations. 

Therefore, we are planning a three-year initiative working toward sustainability and diversity in creative thought, pop-up exhibitions, professional skill development, public speaking, and workshops on the Art of Business. These programs will all happen while building collaborations with four museums to host a 5-month exhibition in late 2025 into 2026.  The project is called:

Beyond Regional Boundaries: A Collective of Artists of African Descent.

Michele Des Verney Redwine
Founder and Executive Director
Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative, Inc. 
941 899.3250 business mobile
703 851.5763  mobile
executivedirector@suncoastblackartscollaborative.org
suncoastblackartscollaborative.org