Our panel will discuss the plans for the San Diego Black Art and Culture District, established in 2022 by the San Diego City Council at the request of Council President Monica Montgomery Steppe. The District, nine blocks of Imperial Avenue in Encanto between 61st and 69th streets, encompasses Marie Widman Park and a mix of commercial, residential, and arts-and-culture uses.
Working with NewSchool of Architecture and Design, residents, business owners, artists, culture practitioners, and city departments, the District’s leaders will create an urban development strategy that puts the arts first. They will advocate for preservation of historic buildings, revitalization of Widman Park, and unification of the various elements in the community that make up the Black experience.
The goals for the District include activating spaces for youth creativity and innovation that involve both engineering and the arts; and, supporting and encouraging economic growth. The San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art will oversee the District.
Watch a video on the District here
The panel will include:
- Denise Rogers, an art history professor at Mesa College. She manages the College’s world cultures art collection and curates annual exhibitions in the College’s glass gallery.
- Henry L. Foster III, chief of staff for Council President Montgomery Steppe. He has over 25 years’ experience in the construction industry and was previously the City’s equal opportunity construction program manager.
- Carolyn Smith, a board member of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art, as well as the Common Ground Theatre, Rady Children’s Hospital Auxiliary, McGill School of Success, and I am Green. She has been responsible for directing multimillion-dollar developments over more than 25 years that helped transform several San Diego neighborhoods.