(Selma, AL) Youth and adult performing artists and visual artists from all 12 counties of Alabama’s Black Belt will come together Saturday, August 6th, 2011 at Wallace Community College Selma to celebrate the region’s unique and rich cultural heritage.

(Selma, AL) Youth and adult performing artists and visual artists from all 12 counties of Alabama’s Black Belt will come together Saturday, August 6th, 2011 at Wallace Community College Selma to celebrate the region’s unique and rich cultural heritage.The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF), which serves as a doorway into the culturally rich communities of the Black Belt, links together the region’s artists, cultural groups and non-profit organizations. “After five years of reviewing and awarding Black Belt Arts Initiative the BBCF  is proud to take the time to sit back and see firsthand the fruits of their labor. With a full day of singing, dancing, acting, and more – Saturday’s Arts Extravaganza will offer a taste of what makes the Black Belt so special,” said Felicia Jones, BBCF Executive Director.The day will begin for the public at 9:00 am with a flag ceremony by county representatives. Throughout the morning, guests will enjoy performances by youth representatives of regional non-profits and arts agencies who have previously been awarded a BBCF Arts Grant. Among the youth performers are: Bullock County’s Red Door Theatre, Greene County’s Glow Girls, Macon County’s Tuskegee Tumblers, Sumter County’s Voices of Triumph, and Wilcox County’s BAMA Kids. Visual artists will share their talents and examples of their work during the lunch break, from 11:30 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. Artists from Choctaw County’s Community Development Center and See & Sew Quilting Bee, Bullock County’s Old Merritt School, Greene County’s Alabama Art Casting, the Greene County Foster and Adoptive Parents, Macon County’s Too Good For Drugs, West Perry-Marion Arts Center, Pickens County’s Crossroads Art Alliance, Sumter County and Alabama Black Belt Heritage Area’s Linda Munoz, and Wilcox County’s Black Belt Treasures, will bring examples of their work and share many success stories from recent programs.  Following the visual arts program, guests are invited back to the Earl Goodwin Theatre from 1:00 – 3:00 pm to enjoy 12 remarkable performances by adult grantees.The Black Belt Arts Initiative, which was ignited in 2006 through BBCF’s partnership with the Youth & Cultural Committee of the Black Belt Action Commission (BBAC) and the Alabama State Council on the Arts, works strongly in its goals to promote artists and arts awareness in the Black Belt and to stimulate creativity among its youth. Since 2006, $864,500 in grants has been awarded through the Black Belt Arts Initiative Arts Grants. Among those receiving awards are museums, community theatres, festival committees and youth organizations offering concentrated arts programs.The 2011 BBCF Arts Extravagan-za brings together for the first time grant recipients from across the 12 Black Belt counties to share and showcase their works of art and their respective impacts on their communities. These artists, groups and organizations are ready to share their time, talent and treasure to further educational and cultural pursuits—“taking what they have to make what they need.”The 2011 BBCF Arts Extravaganza was made possible by the following sponsors: Alabama State Council on the Arts, Black Belt Commission, Auburn University, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama, the University of West-Alabama, and Wallace Community College Selma.For more information or images, please contact the Black Belt Community Foundation at (334) 874-1126, info@blackbeltfound.org, or at www.blackbeltfound.org.  Regionally and Nationally acclaimed artists will take the stage to offer a sampling of their gifts, including the Greene County Community Choir, Perry County’s famous actor, activist, poet, and educator Billie Jean Young, Pickens County’s blues legend George Conner (Freedom Creek Festival), Sumter County’s singer/songwriter Jacky Jack White (Sucarnochee Revue), and Wilcox County’s Dr. Donald Stone (Snow Hill Institute) will perform a scene from his play (derived from his book The Fallen Prince). “Our future as an innovative country depends on ensuring that everyone has access to the arts and to cultural opportunity…the intersection of creativity and commerce is about more than economic stimulus, it’s also about who we are as people. The President and I want to ensure that all children have access to great works of art at museums…to great poets and musicians in theatres around the country, to arts education in their schools and community workshops.” —Michelle Obama