SAN ANTONIO – The Carver Community Cultural Center is bringing new artists to the stage this fall, for a memorable experience in a space that is like no other.
“It’s the first season where we have all new artists. Everyone’s really excited to be touring again and being able to gather together again for live performances. So, it feels really good,” Cassandra Parker-Nowicki, executive director at the Carver Community Cultural Center said.
The center is where prominent African American entertainers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong played at and it is welcoming artists from all over the world for its 2022-2023 performance series.
“We’re going to open up on Oct. 1 with Robert Cray Band, which is always a San Antonio favorite and we’re so excited to welcome him back. And from there, we launch into a season full of performances that include music, dance, some theatrical work, even some work that we’ve commissioned. So, we’re bringing back the Divas of Eastwood, which is a local group here in San Antonio, and it’s beloved,” Parker-Nowicki said.
Performers will take the stage at both the Jo Long Theater and at the Little Carver Civic Center.
Some local artists, including Jed Craddock, will perform as part of the center’s intimate series in the Little Carver.
“That’s a series that occurs in our other performance space, The Little Carver and it is always a wonderful way to just really showcase the extraordinary talent that is living and working here in San Antonio,” Parker-Nowicki said.
Craddock is excited for the one-of-a-kind experience and will be performing on Nov. 18.
“It’s a little nerve wracking. 100 percent. And feels, just, it feels like an honor, truly, to be able to play on whether it’s the little Carver stage or the big carver, the Joe Long Theater,” Craddock said.
The center, with its over 100 years of history serving San Antonio, is located on 226 North Hackberry Street.
“The Carver served first as the library for the Black community, when the city was still segregated, but also as a community and kind of a gathering place. So everything happened here from concerts, but also meetings and debutante parties and you name it, it happened here at the Carver and it still does,” Parker-Nowicki said.
The mission of the Carver Community Cultural Center is to celebrate diverse cultures by providing artistic presentations, educational programs and community outreach activities.
For more information, click here.