Get your groove on and dance the night away at the African American Museum, Dallas’ Disco Gala and Auction on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel (2222 Stemmons Fwy., Dallas, Texas). In its 35th year, the event serves as a fundraiser to maintain and expand the Museum and its offerings through programs, workshops, lectures and other educational services that will facilitate awareness and understanding of African American history and culture. The event also helps the Museum offer its award-winning summer camp to thousands of underserved youth.
The event begins with a meet-and-greet reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by a seated dinner at 7:30 p.m. and entertainment provided by The Dennis Edwards’ Temptation Revue. Velena McRae is the event chair. CBS 11 anchor/reporter Steve Pickett will serve as emcee. Dress is cocktail – or divine disco – attire.
This year’s event marks a milestone for the African American Museum, Dallas as it celebrates the 30th anniversary since opening its new building in Fair Park. The Museum will also present its highest honor – The Heritage Award – to Reverend Dr. Bryan Carter, senior pastor of Concord Church, and Reverend Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes, III., senior pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church who Reverend Jesse Jackson recently named as his successor to lead the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. This award is given occasionally to individuals or organizations who have made a significant contribution to the founding and development of the African American Museum, Dallas and the Dallas-Fort Worth cultural community.
“Thirty years at Fair Park is a huge milestone for the African American Museum, so I’m absolutely delighted to once again serve as gala chair during this monumental year,” said McRae. “This fabulous event not only raises crucial funds to support the museum and its many community programs but helps raise awareness and lay plans for future eras of his iconic cultural institution.”
Serving as the Museum's largest annual fundraiser, gala proceeds underwrite the African American Heritage Series (lectures, symposia, workshops and conferences), educational workshops, musical performances such as the Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra of Houston concert, and the daily operations of the Museum. Blockbuster and world-debut exhibitions – such as Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty, If You Look Hard Enough: You Can See Our Future, Kinsey African American Art and History Collection, and the Smithsonian’s Men of Change. In addition, the gala helps the Museum offer its Science of Art Summer Camp STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) to thousands of children.
Individual tickets are $200. Sponsorship packages are also available including Curator ($35,000), Archivist ($30,000), Artist ($25,000), Historian ($20,000), Gold ($15,000), Silver ($10,000), Bronze ($7,500), Medalist ($5,000) and Friend ($2,500).
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to aamdallas.org/tickets. For sponsorships, please contact C. Little at 214-565-9026, ext. 326 or clittle@aamdallas.org.
About the African American Museum, Dallas. The African America Museum, Dallas was founded in 1974 as a part of Bishop College has operated independently since 1979. For more than 40 years, the African American Museum has stood as a cultural beacon in Dallas and the Southwestern United States. Located in Dallas’ historic Fair Park, the African American Museum is the only museum in the Southwestern United States devoted to the collection, preservation and display of African American artistic, cultural and historical materials that relate to the African American experience. The African American Museum incorporates a wide variety of visual art forms and historical documents that portray the African American experience in the United States, Southwest and Dallas. The Museum has a small, but rich collection of African art, African American fine art and one of the largest African American folk-art collections in the United States. Learn more at aamdallas.org.