UPCOMING EVENTS
Healing Through Unity
In a city where the scars of racism and inequity run deep, we find power in healing — together. Join us for Healing Through Unity, a powerful evening of dialogue and action for National Day of Racial Healing, hosted by Ashé Cultural Arts Center.
Healing Through Unity is a special opportunity to witness the transformative power of authentic conversation. Together with Taproot Earth, a global leader in facilitating uncomfortable conversations, we’ll explore how healing can take root even in places and relationships where it seemed impossible.
This Town Hall will speak directly to the heart of who we are and who we are becoming as a city. It's an invitation to engage in the type of healing that transforms not just individuals, but communities and systems. The event will address the urgent need for racial healing and offer actionable steps to move us toward racial equity.
Why attend Healing Through Unity?
Listen & Learn: Gain insight into the process of racial healing and the challenges and triumphs of turning adversarial relationships into partnerships for change.
Be Part of the Change: Contribute to the discussion about actionable steps that can lead to racial equity and healing within our communities.
Build Bridges: Experience firsthand how uncomfortable conversations can lead to deeper understanding and connection.
Admission is free, but registration is encouraged.
Let’s come together as a city and confront the uncomfortable truths that divide us and discover the healing power that connects us.
KM Dance Project's Raw Fruit
“We recognize and value what we have acquired, what we release, what we hold and what we will share with those who come after us.”
- Kesha McKey
Raw Fruit is a multidisciplinary work led by Kesha McKey, Artistic Director of KM Dance Project and Catherine Caldwell, Associate Director of KM Dance Project. It is a collection of stories that reveal the essence of ancestral values which have been woven into the cultural fabric of Black folks’ lives. This work examines legacy, identity, socialization, unity, and friction inside the Black family dynamic.
KMDP delves deep to expose the impact of race, class, gender and sexuality on maternal relationships and track how the retention of cultural values, morals and taboos have shaped the current existence of Black people in the south. They reflect on the elements that have contributed to their unique traditions and multifaceted ways of life, unveiling family and community values that are seldom challenged or contradicted.
Raw Fruit is steeped in New Orleans culture and layered with visceral movement created from the female lens of the African American experience in the south. From crawfish boils to second lines, living room altars to junior daughters, and bread pudding to pecan pralines, these experiences, rituals and ancestral contributions have created a web of lineage connecting present experiences with customs rooted in the past.
Performers
Kesha McKey
Catherine Caldwell
Jasmin Simmons-Edmond
Chanice Holmes
Millenique Brown
Composer
free feral
Lighting designer
John Alexander
Film artist
Milo Daemgen and the Greenhouse Collective
Spoken word artist
Sunni Patterson
Dramaturg
Aminisha Ferdinand
Costume designer
Aya Designs
Sound designer
Amara Skinner
Raw Fruit was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. General Operating support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Raw Fruit developed with support from the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative funded by the Ford Foundation and the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative 2.0 funded by the Mellon Foundation. Raw Fruit is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Junebug Productions in partnership with Ashé Cultural Arts Center, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance and NPN/VAN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit www.npnweb.org.
Building Community Power: Criminal Justice
Join us at Building Community Power: Criminal Justice and help us envision a justice system that works for everyone — especially those most impacted by it.
Presented in partnership with Bar None, this event will dive into powerful conversations on policy reform and grassroots organizing, focusing on people, families, and communities yearning for healing. If you've felt the weight of injustice or seen its effects, this is your space to transform that energy into action!
Let's build power, demand justice, and create a future where all of us can thrive. ✊🏿
Adinkra Lounge's Lovers Lounge
Celebrate Black love in all its forms at Adinkra Lounge’s Lovers Lounge this Valentine’s Day! In a world that constantly seeks to dehumanize, divide, and diminish us, Black love remains one of the most powerful and unapologetic acts of resistance.
Black love is a reminder that we are enough, that we are powerful, and that our existence is beautiful. Lovers Lounge is about taking the time to honor all the ways Black love shows up in our lives — romantic love, love for our people, and love for ourselves.
So whether you’re single and ready to mingle or already cuffed up, we’ve got the perfect night lined up for you. Pull up with your crew, meet someone new, or just kick back with your boo and enjoy good music, fun games, and specialty cocktails that’ll keep the energy high all night.
Spots are limited, so don’t wait to get your tickets — join us at Lovers Lounge and let’s make this Valentine’s Day one to remember!
Never Too Much: A Black Love Day Concert
Get ready for an unforgettable night celebrating Black love like you've never experienced before! Join us for Never Too Much, a Black Love Day concert and Luther Vandross tribute, where sultry burlesque performances, stunning drag queens, and soulful musicians will keep you feeling the Black love all night long.
And this isn’t just any concert — it’s a full cultural experience! Enjoy a delicious Luther Vandross-themed dinner, get something cute for your boo at our Black Love marketplace, and learn about the incredible work Alliance of Cultural Equity is doing in our community!
Whether you’re coming for the performances, the food, or the marketplace, Never Too Much is the Black Love Day event you don’t want to miss! Get your tickets now before they sell out:
Hosted by:
Safiya Shaddai and Simone Immanuel
Featuring performances by:
Blair Dottin-Haley
Mark-Anthony Thomas
Greer Goff-Mendy
Yoncé Alexander
Mz Juno
Bobbi Rae
Wood ft Hiya Heights
DJ SohlidGold
Co-presented by:
Ashé Cultural Arts Center and Alliance for Cultural Equity
GET TICKETS
General Admission — $30: Your ticket includes access to the buffet — feast on a delicious dinner while you enjoy the performances.
VIP Admission — $50: For the ultimate experience, grab a VIP ticket and enjoy reserved seating plus dinner service right to your table.
Couples VIP Admission — $75: Share the ultimate experience with your boo, get this ticket and enjoy entry for two, two free drinks, reserved seating, plus dinner service right to your table.
Adinkra Lounge's Open Mic Night
Join us for an unforgettable evening of creativity and community at Adinkra Lounge’s Open Mic Night. Whether you want to hit the stage or just kick back and enjoy the show, our Open Mic Night is always a good time!
Everyone is welcome to share their gifts, from the seasoned performers to the first-timers.
Free and open to the public. Doors open at 7:00 PM, and the mic opens at 7:30 PM. Performers can sign up on the spot.
2025 NCA MLK Jr. Commemorative Art Exhibit
Join us for the opening of the 2025 National Conference of Artists Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Art Exhibition.
This year's theme, "A Time to Break Silence: African Roots/American Fruits," will focus on the deep connections between African heritage and American culture, showcasing their enduring impact. This event will feature a blend of art exhibitions, musical performances, and insightful discussions designed to engage and inspire.
NYE Money House Blessing Party
🌟 Manifest Prosperity for 2025 at our NYE Money House Blessing Party! 🌟
As the new year approaches, we recognize the economic challenges intended for our people by the upcoming shifts in the political landscape. But our Elders and Ancestors have always known how to bring us prosperity when prosperity was being denied. In New Orleans, we washed our floors, steps, and sidewalks with bleach and florida water. We smudged our homes and businesses with sage, sandalwood, and Money House Blessing to create spiritual pathways when physical ones were obscured.
So in the spirit of our unshakeable determination to triumph no matter the circumstance, we invite you to join us for a night of drinking, dancing, and declaring prosperity at our NYE Money House Blessing Party at the brand new Adinkra Lounge! A $75 ticket gets you:
✨ 2 free drinks
✨ 1 2025 prosperity reading
✨ 1 money house blessing gift bag
✨ Heavy hors d'oeurves
Join us as we raise our glasses and prepare for a prosperous new year. We can’t wait to celebrate with you! 💰💫
Building Community Power: Climate Justice
Join the movement to co-create a community-designed policy that addresses Black New Orleanians’ needs for equity and liberation!
Building Community Power is a collaborative policy design series that confronts our community’s major concerns with radical imagination and this month, we’re focusing our visioning on climate justice!
Collaborate with passionate advocates, experts, and fellow changemakers to imagine a world where communities thrive in harmony with the environment, equipped with the tools they need to combat climate change and advance sustainability.
From 10am to 12pm, we’re joined by Taproot Earth to kick things off with the Katrina20 Local Committee meeting. The Katrina 20 Local Committee is a community-led collective tasked with commemorating the 20 years of survival, resistance, culture, joy and community power displayed in the aftermath of Katrina and subsequent climate disasters.
Then, from 12pm to 2pm, we’ll dive deep into discussions on the future of climate and environmental justice right here in New Orleans. We’ll have lunch, share stories, and brainstorm solutions.
Join us as we plant seeds for a greener tomorrow. 🌱
Losing Louisiana: Rise, Resist, Restore
Join us for our annual climate and environmental justice convening where art and advocacy converge to address the imminent threat of “losing Louisiana” to industry-fueled climate change, coastal loss, and pollution of our air and land.
Losing Louisiana 2024: Rise, Resist, Restore will feature:
Panel Discussions
Climate and environmental justice experts delve into the issues Louisianans are currently facing, including the risks associated with carbon capture initiatives, the oil and gas industry’s role in the loss of Louisiana life and land, the direct connection between historic plantations and modern-day plants, and reviving ancestral practices to combat the threats to our environment.
Featured panelists: Faye Matthews (Taproot Earth), Breon Robinson (Healthy Gulf),
Cherelle Blazer (Sierra Club), Fred Johnston (I Deserve It! Community Health Worker)
A Katrina 20 Local Committee Planning Meeting
The Katrina 20 Local Committee is a community-led collective tasked with commemorating the 20 years of survival, resistance, culture, joy and community power displayed in the aftermath of Katrina and subsequent climate disasters.
Community-Built Art Installations
Co-create art installations with other attendees that express our collective experiences living with the affects of climate change and environmental/climate injustice.
• Repurpose plastic bags into something useful and comforting; join us in making plarn (plastic yarn) for the mat-making ministry at St. Anna's Episcopal. This plarn will be used to create mats that will help unhoused individuals sleep on a dry, warm surface that can be easily cleaned.
A Sustainable Fashion Show
"Ritual Masking: Unveiling the Truth About Climate Change," curated by Kennedy Sarrazin, targets the oil and gas industry’s attempts at “masking” the negative affect they have on our climate and environment. Each outfit styled is inspired by African masks used in rituals, celebrations, and funerals. Featured items mimic the color schemes, textural elements, and sustainable materials used in the masks.
Side By Side Losing Louisiana: Rise, Resist, Restore Exhibition
This exhibit, curated by Asia-Vinae J. Palmer, is an visual expression of the journey through the grief inherent in loss and the celebration that can exist when loss makes room for something else. On display from November 15, 2024 to January 7, 2025 at the Ashé Powerhouse Theater.
Featured artists: Paris Cyan Cian, Pat Jolly, Mary Gleason, Tiara Raven Marie, Christy Speakman, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder, Antoine Prince, Jr., Charles Lovell, Cely Pedescleaux and Jabari Carmichael
Louisiana Louisiana is free and open to the public. Come together with change-makers, educators, and community members to envision a world where climate justice prevails.
Ashé Rooftop Festival
The Ashé Rooftop Festival will take place on Saturday, October 12, 2024. Y'all know how we got down last year! This year, we're bringing the experience of the African Diaspora under the sky to a neighborhood near you– and across culturally-curated rooftop spaces in New Orleans.
Join us in across Mid-City, the Warehouse District, to the French Quarter/Tremé at our Main Rooftop (300 N. Broad Street) in partnership with Broad Community Connections, our Wellness Rooftop (900 Camp St. 3rd Floor) at The Shop @ The CAC, and Social Justice Rooftop (501 Basin Street) at Basin Street Station!
The whole family is invited to experience themed rooftops of wellness, kid’s corner, social justice, poetry, and performances from your musical favorites. Iconic DJs, mouthwatering foods, signature cocktails, thought-provoking conversations, interactive installations, and much more!
What: Ashé Rooftop Festival
Date: Saturday, October 12, 2024
Location: Main Rooftop (300 N. Broad Street) in partnership with Broad Community Connections (11am - 10pm)
Wellness Rooftop (900 Camp St. 3rd Floor) at The Shop @ The CAC (9am - 5pm)
Social Justice Rooftop (501 Basin Street) at Basin Street Station (11am - 5pm)
The Ashé Rooftop Festival & Gala is an inaugural event and weekend-long celebration culturally-curated across beautiful rooftop spaces in New Orleans.
Ashé Rooftop Gala
The Ashé Rooftop Gala will take place on Friday, October 11, 2024. Ashé Cultural Arts Center is excited to host The Ashé Rooftop Gala at 300 N. Broad Street, in partnership with Broad Community Connections!
Join us in your AFROCHIC attire and experience the African Diaspora under the sky in a neighborhood near you with a headlining performance by Kindred the Family Soul, hosted by Shay O’Connor, and sounds by DJ Rakimbeau! Don’t miss an opening performance by Erica Falls and closing by Kings of Brass. Patron party sounds by T-Ray the Violinist.
What: Ashé Rooftop Gala
Date: Friday, October 11 , 2024
Time: 7pm - 10pm (General Admission) | 6pm (Sponsors/Patron Party)
Location: Broad Community Connections (300 N. Broad Street)
The Ashé Rooftop Festival & Gala is an inaugural event and weekend-long celebration culturally-curated across beautiful rooftop spaces in New Orleans.
Reel Talk: Chemical Fire at Marathon Refinery
When a leaking petrochemical tank at Marathon Petroleum’s refinery in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley caught fire on August 25, 2023, a thick plume of toxic smoke spread for days and miles over neighbouring communities. Authorities claimed that nearby residents were unaffected, but as reports of severe health impacts emerged, some of those residents asked Forensic Architecture (FA) to investigate. This film shares the findings of FA's year-long collaboration with the Guardian.
Join us this Saturday, September 28 at the Ashé Powerhouse Theater for Reel Talk: Chemical Fire at Marathon Refinery, as part of our #LosingLouisiana series.
Stay for the talk back featuring: Imani Jacqueline Brown (Forensic Architecture), May Hampton (Boundless Community Action), Joy Banner (The Descendants Project), and Oliver Laughland (The Guardian).
About:
Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s facility in Garyville, Louisiana, is one of the largest refineries in the western hemisphere. On 24 August 2023, a tank containing naphtha––a volatile hydrocarbon chemical mixture––began leaking and later ignited, resulting in the second largest chemical spill in thirty years, according to the EPA. For two days, a chemical fire at the facility waxed and waned, and a thick, black chemical plume stretched across the sky. Even as residents suffered severe health impacts, including several hospitalisations, state and corporate officials consistently claimed that there were no impacts beyond Marathon’s property line.
Suspecting a cover-up, residents asked Forensic Architecture (FA) to investigate. This film shares the findings of our year-long collaboration with the Guardian, presenting a fluid dynamics simulation of the chemical plume and unheard testimonies from residents of fenceline communities in St. John the Baptist Parish, situated with a 3D model of the site. FA will also premiere a narrative platform designed to track and compare evidence of the incident’s development, accounts from residents, and the state’s response over time.
The Marathon Garyville Refinery is located at the heart of Cancer Alley, where over two hundred of the nation’s most polluting petrochemical facilities occupy the fallow footprints of formerly slave-powered sugarcane plantations. The latest incident at the Marathon facility can be understood not as an isolated incident, but rather as an acute eruption of a chronic condition of environmental racism that has plagued the region for three hundred years.
In 2021, FA was commissioned by Rise St. James and the Descendants Project to investigate the construction of industrial facilities atop unmarked Black cemeteries throughout the River Parishes. This investigation into the 2023 Marathon fire continues FA’s commitment to supporting the multigenerational struggle of Cancer Alley’s fenceline communities.
Building Community Power: Economic Justice
Join our Economic Justice design session to envision a New Orleans where everyone can thrive financially.
Sistahs Making A Change
On #SistahsThursday, join Simone Immanuel for Fierce Fit! This unique dance workout is a mixture of African, ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop dance styles. Fierce Fit will leave you feeling exhilarated and liberated. This is a safe place for beginners, experts, and everyone in between.
#SistahsMakingAchange is free and open to the public every Tuesday and Thursday, 6pm-8pm, at Ashé.
Sistahs Making A Change
Sistahs Making a Change and I Deserve It have joined forces to address the impact of climate change on health and wellness in Louisiana every Tuesday until October 3rd!
Fred Johnston joins Sistahs on Tuesday, August 27 to discuss the effect climate change has on food security and nutrition.
Sistahs Making A Change
On #SistahsThursday, join Simone Immanuel for Fierce Fit! This unique dance workout is a mixture of African, ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop dance styles. Fierce Fit will leave you feeling exhilarated and liberated. This is a safe place for beginners, experts, and everyone in between.
#SistahsMakingAchange is free and open to the public every Tuesday and Thursday, 6pm-8pm, at Ashé.
Sistahs Making A Change
Sistahs Making a Change and I Deserve It have joined forces to address the impact of climate change on health and wellness in Louisiana every Tuesday until October 3rd!
Join Sistahs Tuesday, August 20th to learn more about water quality and safety with I Deserve It Community Health Workers Erica Henderson and Darinique Alexander.
Building Community Power: Education
After Katrina, the city's public school system underwent major changes, including the widespread adoption of charter schools. This has led to challenges around accessibility and quality of education for many students, particularly those from Black communities.
Join our Education design session to envision a New Orleans where all children have access to a high-quality public education. This month’s Building Community Power session is co-led by Black Education for New Orleans!
Building Community Power: Education
After Katrina, the city's public school system underwent major changes, including the widespread adoption of charter schools. This has led to challenges around accessibility and quality of education for many students, particularly those from Black communities.
Join our Education design session to envision a New Orleans where all children have access to a high-quality public education. This month’s Building Community Power session is co-led by Black Education for New Orleans!
Building Community Power: Health Equity
In New Orleans, Black residents have higher rates of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and poor mental health due to historic disinvestment. This has led to a 15- to 25-year deficit in life expectancy between Black communities and the city’s wealthier, whiter neighborhoods.
Join our Health Equity design session to envision and design a healthy, equitable New Orleans.
Building Community Power: Health Equity
In New Orleans, Black residents have higher rates of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and poor mental health due to historic disinvestment. This has led to a 15- to 25-year deficit in life expectancy between Black communities and the city’s wealthier, whiter neighborhoods.
Join our Health Equity design session to envision a healthy, equitable New Orleans.
2024 MAAFA Commemoration
The annual New Orleans MAAFA Commemoration is a community remembrance event, a moment to reckon with the horrors of the Transatlantic and Domestic Slave Trades, and a release from the chains of its legacy. MAAFA is a Kiswahili word meaning “horrific tragedy” and refers to the period known as The Middle Passage. This year’s event presented by Ashé Cultural Arts Center is on Saturday, July 6, 2023 at 7:00am, beginning at Congo Square (701 N Rampart St.)
This year’s theme is Radiant Rhythms–a celebration of the divine power of African drums. For centuries, the stories of Africa have been forged in rhythm by musical griots who pay tribute to the unwavering resolve, indomitable strength, and indelible history of our culture by touching hand, stick, or bone to an African drum.
MAAFA identifies historically-significant locations of New Orleans’ own history as a major slave market, such as Esplanade Avenue and The Tomb of the Unknown Slave in Tremé. In closing, we say the names of those enslaved and free, victims of tragic events, senseless violence, as well as all those who were, so that we might be.
All white attire is preferred. The local community and visitors are invited to attend this commemoration event of healing, testimony, and celebration of our ancestors, existence, and survival.
Pop Up for the Culture Day Party
Pop out and pop up with Ashé this Friday & Saturday for our Pop Up for the Culture Day Party! From 12-6pm at Ashé Cultural Arts Center, shop with Black-owned businesses, get something to eat, and party with our featured artists:
Friday, July 5
Sozi
ClemonsAndCo
Piper Stringz
B. Winnie
Rapbaum
2Bagg
Saturday, July 6
DJ Ojay
2024 MAAFA Exhibition Opening
Our 2024 MAAFA exhibition, Radiant Rhythms, is a celebration of the divine power of African drums. For centuries, the stories of Africa have been forged in rhythm by musical griots who pay tribute to the unwavering resolve, strength, and history of our culture by touching hand, stick, or bone to an African drum. From Djembe to Bara, Tama to Krin, Sabar to Bougarabou, the sounds of these sacred instruments take us on a journey of remembrance through time, tradition, struggle and triumph.
Each beat of an African drum tells a story, echoing the voices of ancestors who taught us how to use them to communicate, celebrate, mourn, and inspire. Drums announce births, deaths, marriages, religious rites and rituals, and social and political events. They herald our coming to and our going from the land of the living, and every significant moment in between. Throughout history, as Africa experienced tragedy after tragedy at the hands of colonizers, the drums remained a steadfast connection to our sacred source.
Join us on Friday, June 28 from 6pm-9pm at Ashé Cultural Arts Center and explore the power, rhythm, and story of the drum.
Curated by Frederick “Wood” Delahoussaye; drums provided by Southern University at New Orleans Museum of Art, Bill Summers, Luther Gray, and Frederick “Wood” Delahoussaye. Images by Gason Ayisyin, quilts by Louise Mouton-Johnson and Cely Pedescleaux.
Sistahs Making A Change
Join Sara Green on Thursdays for Rueda de Casino!
Sistahs will learn the basics of a traditional Cuban partner dance known as Rueda de Casino. With dynamic coordinated moves danced in a large circle, Rueda de Casino will have you moving and grooving to the beat. You can learn more about the mission of Dile Que NOLA on their website https://www.dilequenola.org/.
Sistahs Making A Change
Join Nana Anoa Nantambu on Tuesdays for Intro to Mindfulness!
This course is for those who wish to begin a mindfulness meditation practice, for those who wish to reestablish a practice, as well as for those already with a practice and wish to strengthen it. The primary focus of the course is practice. The sessions will cover the basic foundations of mindfulness, including these topics: what is mindfulness and an introduction to meditation, mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of emotions, mindfulness of thoughts and limiting beliefs, cultivating a kind and loving heart, and moving forward to bring your practice into the world.
Building Community Power: Housing Rights
Decades of discrimination, neglect, and natural disasters have created a devastating affordable housing crisis in New Orleans that is displacing long-time residents and tearing apart communities.
Join our Housing Rights design session to envision a New Orleans where everyone has access to safe, stable, and affordable homes.
Building Community Power: Housing Rights
Decades of discrimination, neglect, and natural disasters have created a devastating affordable housing crisis in New Orleans that is displacing long-time residents and tearing apart communities.
Join our Housing Rights design session to envision a New Orleans where everyone has access to safe, stable, and affordable homes.
Sistahs Making A Change
Join Sara Green on Thursdays for Rueda de Casino!
Sistahs will learn the basics of a traditional Cuban partner dance known as Rueda de Casino. With dynamic coordinated moves danced in a large circle, Rueda de Casino will have you moving and grooving to the beat. You can learn more about the mission of Dile Que NOLA on their website https://www.dilequenola.org/.
Building Community Power Juneteenth Kickoff Dinner
We’re launching Building Community Power with a Juneteenth Kickoff Dinner! Over a meal and in conversation, we will identify our civic engagement goals and processes while engaging in dialogue for equity and liberation.
Join the movement on Tuesday, June 18 at 6:30pm at Ashé Cultural Arts Center.
Sistahs Making A Change
Join Sara Green on Thursdays for Rueda de Casino!
Sistahs will learn the basics of a traditional Cuban partner dance known as Rueda de Casino. With dynamic coordinated moves danced in a large circle, Rueda de Casino will have you moving and grooving to the beat. You can learn more about the mission of Dile Que NOLA on their website https://www.dilequenola.org/.
EVENT CALENDAR
Ashé Cultural Arts Center creates, promotes, and hosts professional and community productions and events that explore and illuminate artistic distinction, community engagement, and a commitment to the African Diaspora and surrounding community.