Welcome!
The Ernest A. Finney, Jr., Cultural Arts Center is located at the heart of the historic Robert Mills and Waverly Districts in Columbia, South Carolina. The Finney Center will be a home for the Black aesthetic in art, music, poetry, theater, culinary culture, and dance. We will be an oasis, a wellspring and incubator for Black art and culture. And we will always keep an open space for radical, inclusive community conversations.
OUR STORY
PAST
In the Summer of 2021, Frances Close and Kevin Gray, partners at Railroad BBQ, had an idea for a new cultural arts center in the building next to the restaurant. The resulting Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center connects the heart of the African American community, past and present, to an ever-changing downtown Columbia, South Carolina. ...
PRESENT
The Center is home to African American expression, cutlure, and art. Located at the border between historic Robert Mills District and the Waverly Community District, the Center will serve as a much-needed gathering place for community conversations and the making of art of all types, including: living Black history, community builidng, visual art, poetry, dance, music, theatre, and the culinary arts. ...
The Future & How To Get Involved
In the Fall of 2024, we are breaking ground on a state-of-the-art renovation of our building using a plan developed by the Boudreaux architectural firm. The renovation will include transformed workspaces and studios, presentation, and multipurpose spaces.
The renovation plans consist of a stage and 200 seats, which can be opened to the outdoors and exhibition space with 360-degree views. We have raised over half the nearly $2 million needed for the renovation.
The Finney Center also recently purchased the nearby former residence and office of Dr. Matilda A. Evans (2027 Taylor Street), the first female African American licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina. The Evans House is a site on the National Register of Historic Places. Dr. Evans's legacy of community health, philanthropy, and contributions to African American culture will guide our vision for the historic property.
Message from Director Nikky Finney: The Bright New Year Coming to Black Cultural Arts in South Carolina
Dear Good People,
It’s been a long time, but I have a sweet story to share as the tough year winds down. In 2022, in Columbia, South Carolina an amazing woman, Frances Close, purchased an old 1940’s airplane hangar building, a former electric and lighting business. These true symbols matter to this true story in a mighty way. The building sits in a part of Columbia, just off downtown, that 75 years ago was a bustling Black community. It is now the Robert Mills district. The historically Black colleges that are near the building today were once surrounded by theatres, doctors’ offices, barber and beauty shops, restaurants, and grocery stores.
Frances Close purchased the building and asked me if I would consider directing what she thought might become the new Ernest A. Finney, Jr Cultural Arts Center, named for my father and one of her South Carolina heroes. I’ll tell you more about this when I see you but the spirit of one of my sheroes, Margaret Burroughs, of Chicago, Illinois, descended immediately into the room where that question was awkwardly dangling. Burroughs was a Black woman visual artist who kept making her art even while building a viable and incredible Black Arts institution for the community that hungrily needed one. We often need models for the things that have never been up-close done before. Burroughs was mine.
The University of South Carolina supported my decision to step away from the academic classroom for a while and I agreed to direct the new cultural arts center named for my father, the man who used to come home from a long day of fighting the good fight against injustice by carefully settling the diamond tip of the long-playing needle down into the tenor saxophone of Coleman Hawkins’ Night Hawk.
How Award-Winning Poet Nikky Finney Is Bringing New Life To Her Community
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
- Sat, Dec 21The Finney Cultural Arts CenterDec 21, 2024, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PMThe Finney Cultural Arts Center, 1510 Laurens St, Columbia, SC 29204, USADec 21, 2024, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PMThe Finney Cultural Arts Center, 1510 Laurens St, Columbia, SC 29204, USAOn Saturday, December 21 from noon to 4:00 PM, the Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center is hosting a FREE outdoor holiday celebration for everyone with giveaways, holiday treats, and children’s books.