Tekrema Center for Art and Culture

Ese Ne Tekrema The Adinkra Symbol of Friendship, Interdependence and Strength in Unity The mission of Tekrema Center for Art and Culture is to create a legacy of artistic excellence, intellectual development, scholarly achievement, and community responsibility through the study, maintenance, development, and perseverance of African, African American and African Diaspora art and culture in service to the community.

Tekrema Center for Art and Culture is a cultural arts organization located in New Orleans, Louisiana in the area geographically described and affectionately known as "The Lower 9th Ward".
The principal activities of Tekrema Center are the creation, acquisition, preservation, and research of arts; the advancement of knowledge through arts education, training and research in the arts; and the dissemination of these resources through presentations, exhibitions, publications, and public lectures. Tekrema Center is an artist driven organization, where professional artists are integral in programming and service to the community.

Tekrema provides ongoing classes in the arts to adults and children for no costs; below industry standards; and with study stipend to teens. Tekrema is the only organization in the Lower 9th Ward that offers regularly scheduled artistic performances, which are of exemplary caliber at costs that are accessible to the community, and more importantly provides art, cultural activities and resources in a geographical environment where little or no other artistic activities are available because it is still vastly destroyed and rebuilding, now 19 years post Hurricane Katrina.
Tekrema's dedication and service represents ownership and connectivity to the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood.

Tekrema's goal is organizational sustainability. Its immediate objectives are funding its youth programing, its cultural research and publishing projects, and the development of Tekrema Dance Theatre . Strengthening Tekrema's youth programming will improve capacity to serve more children and offer them more classes, activities, and other art related opportunities. Tekrema serves 25 children per week. Moreover, Tekrema would like to reinstitute its male (11 -17 years) mentoring program, A Call to Action. In that program, youth men were taught the tenants of responsible and productive citizenship.

Tekrema Center for Art and Culture has held steadfast in its commitment to excellence in artistic programming and providing free dance classes and art related activities to youth and adults in the Lower 9th Ward. While we face facility and funding challenges, we are still here. We continue to create, serve and inspire all we serve. Tekrema is determined to educate and inspire our youth, provide career opportunities to dedicated artists, and serve a community, which has given so much to the fabric of New Orleans and the story of Louisiana. We are asking for your help to continue this very important work. Our work a story of art, dance, music, tradition, and emotional and artistic survival.