Left to right, seated: Adrienne Foster, Dr. Maulana Karenga, and Marilyn F. Solomon. Standing: Catherine Dickinson, Dr. Alex J. Norman, Robert Barrett, Doris Topsy-Elvord, and Rick Moss, with Natalia M. Varanko, Special Exhibits Coordinator, and Dr. Margaret Ann Hardin, Curator of Anthropology, natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

 Not shown: Committee members Olivia C. Fields and Phyllis Moore Venable, and Chris Coleman, Collections Manager, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. 

Robert Barrett is the Associate Vice-President of Cultural Tourism at the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. For fourteen years he was the Executive Director of the Fresno Art Museum. His interest in African art began in art school and increased during Peace Corps service in Liberia, West Africa.

 Catherine Dickinson is a Communications Officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in charge of community outreach. MTA's public outreach efforts through promotions, written materials, and advertising are a part of her job function. For the "AFRICA: One Continent. Many Worlds." exhibit, she has written a brochure and advertisements for the Metro Bus and Rail.

 Olivia C. Fields has been the Director of Marketing for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce since 1989. Subsequent to that she was financial consultant for the San Francisco Office of Merrill Lynch. She serves on the African Marketplace Board of Directors and the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau Cultural Arts and Tourism Committee. Ms. Fields has traveled extensively throughout East and West Africa.

 Adrienne Foster has worked as an administrator and faculty member in the California community colleges since 1979 and is currently Associate Dean of Student Services at West Los Angeles College. However, her passion has been collecting African American and Caribbean-American works of art for her home and office.

 Dr. Maulana Karenga is creator of the holiday Kwanzaa, Professor and Chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, and Executive Director of the African American Cultural Center. His publications include Introduction to Black Studies, the Million Man March/Day of Absence Mission Statement, Selections from the Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt, and Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture.

 Rick Moss is Program Manager of History for the California African-American Museum. A desire for spiritual growth and professional development nurtured his interest in African history and culture. A life defining year spent in Kenya as a graduate student further exposed Mr. Moss to the reality and romance of the continent.

 Dr. Alex J. Norman is Professor Emeritus of Social Welfare at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research and is a part-time Organization Development Consultant. He has conducted research on the African Diaspora in North America and the United Kingdom and has been a collector of African art since 1972.

 Marilyn P. Solomon, Governor and Trustee of the Natural History Museum, holds an M. B. A. from Pepperdine University and is President of the Solomon Group. She is a five-time EMMY award winner for documentaries, specials, and children's programs that she produced for television.

 Doris Topsy-Elvord is Vice-Mayor of the City of Long Beach. Largely through her efforts, that city is reviving and renewing its Sister-City ties to Meru, Kenya. The Vice-Mayor's avocation is travel: she has visited and explored six of the seven continents. She recently returned from an extensive adventure in East Africa.

 Phyllis Moore Venable, a seventeen-year resident of Los Angeles, is the Neighborhood Improvement Officer for the Department of Community Development, City of Long Beach. She has been a collector of African elephant imagery from childhood, a hobby which has spurred a lifelong interest in African wildlife and conservation.

 Photographs by Dick Meier 

jca