PHOTO RIGHT TO LEFT. Dr. Donald Wallace Jones, PGAAMCC Chair; Maleke Glee, Interim Director; Chanel Compton, MCAAHC/BDM Director; Lyndra Marshall (née Pratt), MCAAHC Chair
From County to State: New Executive Leadership at Two Partnering African American Institutions
Chanel Compton named Director of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Banneker Douglass Museum and Maleke Glee named Interim Executive Director for the Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center
The Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center (PGAAMCC) and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) and the Banneker-Douglass Museum (BDM) are in the midst of bringing on new leadership to both organizations. PGAAMCC’s current Executive Director, Chanel Compton, was recruited by the MCAAHC to be the new Director of the MCAAHC and BDM in Annapolis. Ms. Compton will also transition to the PGAAMCC Board of Directors as the Vice Chair of Development. PGAAMCC has recruited Maleke Glee, previously a program/community partner, to be the Interim Executive Director. “My primary goal, as Board Chair, is to continue to elevate the excellent programs, practices, and procedures of PGAAMCC,” states Dr. Donald Wallace Jones, Chair of PGAAMCC’s Board of Directors “We are very pleased to have Ms. Compton transition from serving as our Executive Director to being an acting Board Member as the Vice Chair of Development. As such a strong ambassador for PGAAMCC, Ms. Compton will actively promote our mission and vision locally, nationally, and internationally.” Both organizations seeks to partner on Board Membership and program initiatives. Ms. Lyndra Marshall (née Pratt), MCAAHC Chair states, “Though both institutions are in transition, this has been a great opportunity to collaborate through staffing, volunteerism, board leadership, and program initiatives.”
About PGAAMCC and MCAAHC
PGAAMCC’s mission is to celebrate and inspire the community through the cultivation, preservation, and presentation of the cultural and artistic contributions of African Americans in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Since opening its doors in 2010, PGAAMCC has presented art and historical exhibitions, public programs, film screenings, festivals, and educational outreach programs, all of which continue to grow as the Museum’s audience and reach expand. In partnership with the Prince George’s County Public School (PGCPS) Office of Arts Integration, PGAAMCC’s education outreach programs, such as its early childhood programs and teen after school programs, serve approximately 65 PGPCS schools and 4,000 PGCPS students. Moving forward, PGAAMCC is actively expanding its education outreach programs throughout the region and is producing a Black Arts Festival, which will premiere on October 7, 2017.
PGAAMCC’s new Interim Executive Director, Maleke Glee, is no stranger to PGAAMCC and community arts programming. Glee’s scholarship is focused on dramaturgy and cultural ethnography, and he recently curated PGAAMCC’s most popular public programs series for the exhibition, Chocolate Cities. Maleke has also led PGAAMCC’s after school program, Culture Keepers, and is the founder and executive director for the DC based non-profit, Chocolate Redux, whose mission is to support and sustain the local culture of the Washington Metropolitan Area in the midst of gentrification. Maleke Glee states“ As a native and current resident of the County, I am honored to support our cultural eco-system. I enter this role ready to work alongside the Board, partners, and community, to fulfill the promise of PGAAMCC’s mission.”
The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) works to interpret, document, preserve, and promote Maryland’s African American heritage; to provide technical assistance to institutions and groups with similar objectives; and to educate Maryland’s citizens and visitors about the significance of the African American experience in Maryland and the nation. MCAAHC oversees the Banneker Douglass Museum, appoints the Walter Hill Fellowship in Archives, and jointly administers the States $1-million African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program with the Maryland Historical Trust. Chanel Compton states, “Serving African American causes on a County level has been a tremendous experience, and I am honored to serve on a State level to further promote the preservation and presentation of African American history, art, and culture.”
The Future
As two of Maryland State’s premiere African American institutions, alongside institutions such as the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, PGAAMCC and MCAAHC seek to be resources to each other and the greater community through cross-institutional board leadership and creative collaborations, such as traveling exhibitions and programs.
To learn more about MCAAHC, please visit www.africanamerican.maryland.gov or call 410-216-6180. To learn more about PGAAMCC, please visit www.pgaamcc.org or call 301-809-0440.