1985 – 1986

• Mikki Shepard/Leonard Goins hired to conduct national feasibility study by Michael Lomax through Fulton County Arts Council

1987

• NBAF incorporated 501(c)3 status
• Initiative of the Fulton County Arts Council. The Fulton County Board of Commissioners appropriated the first major grant, along with the National Endowment for the Arts
• Michael Lomax, founder and first Chair of Board with founding board members Nancy Boxill, Tom Cullen, & Betsy Baker
• Moved into Walton Street office
• A. Michelle Smith, becomes Executive Director
• Stephanie S. Hughley becomes Artistic Director
• Staff of 4 included Shirley Henderson Coleman and Ikenna Ubaka

1988

• Major sponsors included Fulton County, Coca-Cola, AT&T, City of Atlanta, RJR Nabisco, Southern Bell/BellSouth, Macy’s, Equitable Foundation, Citicorp/ Citibank, IBM Corp, Adolph Coors, Georgia-Pacific and almost 200 contributors (cash & in-kind)
• July 30 – August 7, 1988, First National Black Arts Festival
• Parade down Peachtree to Festival on Auburn Avenue and Folk Arts Festival at GSU
• Elizabeth Catlett exhibit and Catlett does the first NBAF commemorative print.
• 8 Theatre Productions including NEC and Jomandi
• 2 Performance Art productions including Club Zebra
• 11 Dance events including 5 companies in Dances of the Diaspora, Garth Fagin, Bucket, and Copasetics
• 8 Music events including ASO, McDonald’s Gospelfest, Evening at the Savoy with Nancy Wilson & Count Basie Band, focus on Black Composers
• 39 Visual Art Exhibitions + 7 Peachtree Storefronts from Muse’s to Rich’s & Macy’s, Artists’ Market, National Afro-American Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Computer Art Exhibition, and  Atlanta/Georgia Artists Exhibit
• Black Cinematheque (46 Films/Videos & Shorts featuring the   films of Spike Lee & Gordon Parks)
• Literary Festival featuring Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Toni Cade Bambara
• Humanities/Education included Theatre Institute, Dance Workshops, Conversations, Lectures
• Living Legends “Institution Builders” including Katherine Dunham, Douglas Turner Ward (NEC), Margaret Burroughs (DuSable Museum), Elma Lewis, Josephine Harreld Love, Vinnette Carroll and Ashton Springer
• National Spokespersons: Harry Belafonte & Cicely Tyson
• Office moved across the street on Walton St.
• Andrew Young is in second term as Mayor of Atlanta

1989

• Fundraising Campaign for 1990 Festival
• NBAF presents “A Nation of Poets” with Amiri Baraka, Mari Evans, Haki Madhubuti, Sonia Sanchez, Kalumu ya Salaam, Pearl Cleage, live taping

1990

• Maynard Jackson returns for third  term as Mayor of Atlanta
• Myrna Anderson-Fuller becomes Managing Director (1990-1993)
• National Spokespersons: Harry Belafonte and Cicely Tyson
• Living Legends honoring Lois Mailou Jones, Pearl Primus, Gordon Parks, William Warfield, Etta Moten Barnett & Richard Long
• Varnette Honeywood does the second NBAF commemorative print
• Parade down Peachtree to “Roots & Branches Folk Festival” on Auburn
• 15 Dance Events
• 6 Theatre Productions
• 12 Music Events
• 2 Performance Art Productions, Club Zebra
• 23 Visual Arts Exhibits and Artists’ Market
• Literary Festival, “A Nation of Poets”
• Film: Black Cinematheque featuring Danny Glover

1991

• Harriet Sanford becomes Executive Director

1992

• Board increases to 12 members
• Spokespersons Avery Brooks & Dionne Warwick
• Smaller Festival with 5 Dance events; 10 Music events, 6 Theatre including “Remembering Aunt Jemima”, 6 Performance Art; 17 Visual Arts Exhibits & Artists’ Market; National Juried & National Invitational with Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Wynton Marsalis & Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
• Living Legends honoring Max Roach and his Sacred Drums Concert, Ousmane Sembene, Tally Beatty, & Miz Lou (Louise Bennett)

1993

• Harriet Sanford becomes President of NBAF (1993-1995)
• James Borders becomes Managing Director
• Avery Brooks becomes Artistic Director

1994

• Living Legends honoring photo great, Roland Freeman, Donald McKayle and others
• Artists include McIntosh County Shouters, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Don Pullen, Cassandra Wilson, Me’ Shell Ndegeocello; Irene Tassembedo, E. Lynn Harris, Roy Hargrove, David Murray;  Ladysmith Black Mambaza, Ruth Brown, Little Jimmy Scott, and Phyllis Yvonne Stickney
• Literary Festival including Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Toni Cade Bambara, Tom Dent, Askia Muhammed Toure
• Stephanie Hughley at Cultural Olympiad, collaborating with NBAF added, 350 artists and cultural practitioners from 23 African countries in “Celebrate Africa” in the Folk Festival at Piedmont Park
• The first Children’s Education Village of the Festival is held at Piedmont Park to “Celebrate Africa!”
• Midnight Jam Session
• Black Erotica

1995

• Deborah Heard becomes Managing Director

1996

• Atlanta hosts the Centennial Olympic Games
• TBS presents NBAF’s “The Ark of the Spirit”
• Living Legends honoring Bernice Reagon and Sweet Honey in the Rock, Gwendolyn Brooks and Vivian Robinson
• Artists include 100 World Drummers for Peace; Amiri Baraka, Ronald K. Brown/Evidence Dance Company, Dianne McIntyre, Olu Dara, Abbey Lincoln & Odetta
• Theatre including “Having Our Say” the story of the Delaney Sisters, “Zora Neale Hurston”, “The Confessions of Stepin Fetchit”, starring Roscoe Orman; and “A Huey P. Newton Story” starring Roger Guenveur Smith
• Visual Artists including Charles Bibbs, Louis Delsarte, Paul Goodnight, Annie Lee, William Tolliver
• Literary Festival including Samuel Delaney, Octavia Butler, Ntozake Shange, Eleanor Taylor, Sonia Sanchez, Eugene Redmond and others
• Doll Exhibition
• Midnight Jam Session
• Black Erotica
• Katherine Dunham & Margaret Walker

1997

• Ingrid Saunders Jones becomes second Chair of Board
• First Gala “A Gathering of Colors” in Centennial Olympic Park
• Created the first “Members Guild”
• Dwight Andrews becomes Artistic Director

1998

• 10th Anniversary of the National Black Arts Festival – July 10-19
• Artists include Charles Dutton, August Wilson, Ntozake Shange, Wole Soyinka, Ruby Dee, Abbey Lincoln, Maya Angelou, Ashley Bryan, Alvin Singleton
• Year-round programs begin—Sunday School, ArtReach, Music Camp to build relationships with community groups
• The Annual African American History Quiz Bowl becomes a part of the National Black Arts Festival
• The Children’s Education Village publishes its first edition of the “The Compass Rose”, an annual newsletter for children on the history and culture of the African Diaspora

1999 – 2000

• Stephanie S. Hughley returns as Executive Producer, bringing Laura Greer as Associate Producer to handle artistic programming
• The focus of the Children’s Education Village becomes the history and culture of the African Diaspora
• Office moves to Studioplex
• Gala at Studioplex and weekend of activities
• NBAF begins collaboration with the Pan African Film Festival in 2000

2001

• Convened marketing executives from major corporate sponsors
• Decision made to present festivals annually rather than biennially
• September 11, 2001 created major decrease in sponsorship
• First Holiday Celebration “Diverse Voices/Collective Spirit”

2002

• Nancy Boxill becomes third Chair of Board
• Festival at Atlanta University Center Artists include Hugh Masekela, outdoor International Vendors Market, indoor Artists’ Market; Apollo Amateur Night, Legends Gala honoring Maya Angelou, Harry Belafonte, Cicely Tyson and “Dreamgirls” featuring Jennifer Holliday
• NBAF commissions David Driskell for the first Collectors’ Guild print

2003

• Living Legends honoring Negro Ensemble Company
• NBAF commissions Louis Delsarte the second Collectors’ Guild print
• Festival theme:  SOULS, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of “Souls of Black Folk”
• Staged reading of Soul of Black Folk produced by Thulani Davis
• Next Generation events  at Underground
• Children’s Education Village at the King Center
• NBAF partners with the Atlanta Public Schools, Clark Atlanta University and URACCAN sending 20 middle school students and 20 middle school teachers to Nicaragua to study “African Presence in the Americas”,  funded by the Congressional Black Caucus
• The Sea Island Cultural Legacy Baskets are created for the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) to be used in classrooms in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina to teach the history and culture of the Gullah people

2004

• Curley M. Dossman, Jr. becomes fourth Chair of Board
• NBAF commissions Faith Ringgold for the 3rd Collectors’ Guild print
• NBAF, in partnership with Clark Atlanta University, organizes a Fulbright-Hays Study Abroad experience for 15 educators to travel to Ghana to walk in W.E.B. DuBois’ footsteps
• Festival theme: “Sisterfire”
• Living Legends honoring Sonia Sanchez
• Artists include Nancy Wilson, Sonia Sanchez, Tonia Leon, TC Carson, Amel Larrieux, Diahann Carroll in “Bubblin’ Brown Sugar”
• Underground Atlanta hosts outdoor festival and Soul Suite

2005

• NBAF commissions Sam Gilliam for the 4th Collectors’ Guild print
• Living Legends honoring The Neville Brothers
• Artists include Nikki Giovanni, Melvin and Mario Van Peebles, and Maya Angelou and her son Guy Johnson
• The Children’s Education Village opens at the Woodruff Arts Center to standing room only crowds of children.  Over 5,000 books are given away in Literacy Partnership with Scholastic, Inc.
• Festival Resource Teachers awarded grants from the Fund for Teachers to conduct projects in Nicaragua
• Laura Greer accepts position at Apollo Theater
• Leatrice Ellzy and Alvelyn Sanders co-manage artistic programming

2006

• Evern Cooper Epps becomes fifth Chair of Board
• NBAF commissions Robin Holder  for the 5th Collectors’ Guild print
• Living Legends honoring Former Ambassador Andrew Young with concert by Hannibal Lokumbe
• Festival spotlight:  American South & South Africa
• Artists include Angie Stone, Leon and the Peoples, Phylicia Rashad, Hill Harper, Charlayne Hunter Gault, Pearl Cleage, Jason Carter, the daughters of Bishop Desmond Tutu: Nontumbi Naomi-Cecilia Tutu & Thandeka Tutu Gxashe, and Hannibal Lokumbe
• Theatre production  featuring South African play “Amajuba”
• International Vendor Marketplace at Atlantic Station, 4 Exhibitions (Beautiful Things, Body Maps, Fabricated Harmony, and From Apartheid to Democracy)
• Hill Harper donates his book “Letters to a Young Brother” to hundreds of young people
• Howard Dodson, Chief of the Schomburg Research Center, spoke at the Annual Educators’ Reception

2007

• Festival spotlight:  DNA/Genealogy
• Legends Celebration honoring Roberta Flack
• “In the Returnal” exhibitions by Radcliffe Bailey, Fatima Robinson & Marc Anthony Thompson Artists include Alfre Woodard, Victoria Rowell, Creative Outlet Dance Company, Abdullah Ibrahim, The Dells, Tribute to Sekou Sundiata, Suzan-Lori Parks’ “365 Plays In 365 Days”
• NBAF commissioned Benny Andrews in 2007 for the 6th Collectors’ Guild print available in 2008 for NBAF’s 20th Anniversary

2008

• 20th Anniversary Celebration – July 18-27
• Legends Celebration: An Evening with Gladys Knight
• An exhibition by Carrie Mae Weems, “A Requiem To Mark The Moment”
• NBAF co-commissions, with Boston Symphony and  Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, a  new orchestral work by Wynton Marsalis
• Creatively Speaking featuring conversations with Cornel West and Wynton Marsalis, moderated by Carrie Mae Weems; and Alice Walker and Pearl Cleage
• Dance! A Tribute to Judith Jamison performed by Ron Brown/Evidence Dance Company, Urban Bush Women and selected dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre; and a Pan African Film Festival film screening and conversation with Judith Jamison and Pearl Cleage
• Pan African Film Festival Retrospect – Charles S. Dutton
• NBAF at Centennial Olympic Park featuring four days of World Music and the International Vendor Marketplace
• Artist’s Market and Literary Salon at Georgia World Congress Center
• Theatre productions include “Oprah Winfrey presents The Color Purple” presented by Theater of the Stars, Discovery: New Play Reading Series, “Gee’s Bend” presented by Theatrical Outfit,  “The Amen Corner” presented by True Colors Theatre Company
• Commemorative Book Published
• Baraka Sele serves as Guest Curator
• NBAF moves to new office space, donated by AT&T, in the Promenade II tower in midtown Atlanta

2009

• Stephanie Hughley rejoins the New Jersey Performing Arts Center
• Neil A. Barclay becomes President and CEO of NBAF
• The summer festival was held at Woodruff Arts Center and 15th Street in Midtown Atlanta, with performances at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University
• Legends Celebration honoring the late Nina Simone
• Festival included Pan African Film Festival, Robert Townsend, Les Brown, visual artist Whitfield Lovell, Russell Gunn, Rahsaan Patterson
• NBAF Gala – A Gathering of Colors:  Brazilian Cool
• Theatre:  “For Colored Girls…”, “Cool Drink of Water”, “Blood Knot”, “Mirandy & Brother Wind” presented with partners

2010

• Launched new logo design & NBAF rebranding campaign
• Summer Festival at Centennial Olympic Park featuring four days of World Music and the International Vendor Marketplace
• Legends Celebration: To Curtis with Love honoring the late Curtis Mayfield
• Dance: PHILADANCO
• Developed touring versions of the Children Education Village (Village-2-Go) and the Coretta Scott King Awards Book Fair (CSK-2-Go)
• Silent film “Body and Soul” featuring live accompaniment by Wycliffe Gordon
• BRAZIL FEST at Centennial Olympic Park & Atlanta Symphony Hall, in partnership with the Brazilian Consulate
• FILM: Pan African Film Festival and a special screening of “Ghetto Ballet” by HBO

2011
Phase II of Rebranding campaign begins mid-year