24 | April 2019
I
A R T S
THE ELLINGTON-WHITE
Promoting and showcasing art
BY CRISSY NEVILLE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW WONDERLY
I
t's a tale of two cities: Detroit, Michigan, and
Fayetteville, North Carolina. It's a story of two
goals: one, to showcase emerging and professional
contemporary artists, and two, to provide arts
education and services for youth and the community
as a whole. It's a vision with two names: e Ellington-
White Community Development Corporation and its
offspring, e Ellington-White Contemporary gallery.
is duality is fitting as the art venture, now in its 11th
year in Fayetteville, is named aer two of art's heroes:
musician and composer Duke Ellington and visual artist
Charles White.
e famed artists meant a lot to Dwight Smith, the
founder and gallery program director at the Ellington-
White CDC. In 1997, he began a nonprofit arts program in
Detroit and named it for Ellington and White. His creation
moved to Fayetteville 10 years ago and has morphed into a
thriving enterprise and arts venue in this city.
e corporation office and Ellington-White
Contemporary gallery are located downtown at 113
Gillespie Street. Here, Smith and Calvin Mims, Ellington-
White's executive director, work with volunteers to carry
out the corporation's mission of promoting the arts, culture
and civic engagement. And here, contemporary art from
