Harvey Bernard Gantt was the first black student at Clemson University, the first black mayor of Charlotte where this center is and became an architect after completing a graduate degree at MIT.
The center has three temporary exhibits that rotate out about every three months. Nearly all the works are by living black artists from the US and Africa. Mediums include textiles, oil on canvas, and sculpture to redefine the depiction of black people living in America and take back control over the slave-era narratives of black bodies.
Some of the American artwork is based on traditional African styles. For example, Vanessa German models her sculptures after Congolese Nikisi folk art practices and Simone Leigh uses pottery to express features of the black body.
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