Charlotte native Tonya Brandon was a frequent visitor to old Afro Center.
As a youngster, Tonya Brandon attended programs at the Afro-American Cultural Center on 401 N. Myers St.
"In childhood I took some acting and dancing lessons at the center," Brandon said. "I definitely was a visitor."
As an adult she has come full circle as chairman of the now Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture on South Tryon Street, where her 15-year-old daughter Khelsi volunteers.
Three years ago - while the Gantt Center was still in its designing phase - Brandon was the building committee chairperson.
Her background includes a civil engineering degree from North Carolina State University. She is employed at CB Richard Ellis, a global service provider of real estate services where her focus has been on project, facility and construction management.
"It's an extreme privilege being able to serve in this leadership capacity which I think means so much to not only the Charlotte community," Brandon said about her new appointment. "The goal is to establish our national presence."
Fellow board member and Charlotte Post publisher Gerald Johnson, who has worked alongside Brandon for three years, says she brings a younger perspective to the Board in terms of leadership.
"The old fogeys have finally moved aside to let some of the younger folks assume the leadership role and take us into a new era," Johnson said. "(Brandon) is a very talented, bright young lady who will serve the board well in a leadership role. I think she's a great successor to our past board leader Earl Leake and will continue to carry on the mission."
Brandon's transition to board chair mirrors the Gantt's evolution since opening last October.
As a board member, Brandon says individual skill sets and strengths were a primary focus, where as chairman of the board she has moved into a roll that gives her a holistic view of goals and objectives. She now oversees the budget and overall programming of the Gantt Center.
"We're looking ahead to all the excitement in being a new facility," Brandon said. "We're ensuring that we've got a strong development plan including programming, marketing and exhibits that are in place and making sure that the staff feels like they have the proper board support and proper government."
Since its opening last year, the Gantt center is housing the Hewitt Collection, and featured the works of Juan Logan and David C. Driskell and now Michael B. Platt, Louis Delsarte, Charles Farrar and Larry Lebby.
Brandon says the center wants to be known as more than a gallery.
"It's really the cultural experience," she said. "We've got a richness in what we provide. One might be surprised at the variety of experiences that you may have."
Brandon noted summer dancing, drawing and acting classes for children and teenagers, as well as exhibits, lectures, music and eventually more plays and movie screenings for adults. Additionally, the Gantt Center is focusing on its partnerships with the Levine Museum of the New South and the McColl Center for Visual Art.
"We're looking at how we can have a component where they can host things at our facility and where we can have things be hosted there," Brandon says. "We're looking at 'how do we really bridge those relationships'?"
Overall, Brandon says the Gantt Center wants to grow on a national level. That can and is being done by hosting national artists.
"Clearly a nationally known artist will give us an establishment that we're playing at that level," Brandon says. "We want to move in a level of confidence, but also that level of excitement and anxiety of knowing that we've got something that is really large, and we've not really reached the peak yet."
She added: "We're on the path to establishing ourselves."
Courtesy The Charlotte Post
Posted on Thursday, July 15, 2010
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