Spelman College recently celebrated the dedication of its newly renovated performing arts center, now named the LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center, in honor of the accomplished alumna and her award-winning husband.
The ceremony took place late last month during SpelHouse homecoming weekend. It included the unveiling of a new mural on campus that embodies the couples’ “lifetime of achievements in the arts,” according to Spelman.edu.
LaTanya and Samuel’s love story began more than four decades ago when they met as students at Spelman and Morehouse College.
Atlanta artist Quintin Jackson created the black-and-white mural, which is a pictorial history with 135 images in recognition of and representation of LaTanya and Sam’s talents and contributions, including their time in the Morehouse Spelman Players theatrical group.
The couple Spelman Class of ‘71 and Morehouse Class of ‘72 alums donated $5 million to renovate the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building. This contribution marked the largest alumnae donation in Spelman’s history. They raised additional support for the renovation, totaling $17.3 million for the entire project.
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“Sam and I are continually invested in the success of Spelman College because Spelman first invested so much in us,” said Richardson Jackson in a statement. “Everything I know, all of my beginnings were in this building. It is an honor for us to help support the school’s vital mission, and to ensure that it continues to serve as a space of inspiration and training for the next generation of leaders. May the unveiling of this glorious mural be an inspiration to the beautiful artists past, present and future who walk these halls.”
The celebration and unveiling of the mural was a star-studded evening. Director and Morehouse alum Spike Lee, film producer Will Packer, former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, and United Negro College Fund President were in attendance along with the cast of Samuel’s upcoming film The Piano Lesson.
“Throughout our life together, it has been an honor to support Spelman College. It was the institution which served as the nurturing training ground for our careers in the arts. Last night we celebrated the installation of the Mural of Spelman’s theatrical history, in the newly renovated LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center. We hope that the Mural will inspire the next generation of budding artists. Once fully completed, this facility will be a center for creating and encouraging young artists to see the full spectrum of possibilities within themselves,” Richardson Jackson captioned a series of photos from the unveiling on Instagram.
The upgrades to the renamed LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center are part of Spelman’s ongoing commitment to fostering a strong arts curriculum and ensuring that students have a space that supports their artistic and academic pursuits.
The College plans to open the new $86 million Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation & the Arts (CI&A) in early 2025. The center will be home to Spelman’s thriving arts programs in dance, documentary filmmaking, photography, theater and performance, music, the Atlanta University Center Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective. The space will provide expanded space for the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the Center for Black Entrepreneurship, and the Arthur M. Blank Innovation Lab. Titled the “front porch”, the CI&A will open the campus to the Atlanta University Center’s Westside community.
