The Studio for Afri-Culturalism in Architecture & Design was a 501 c 3 not for profit organization whose mission was to document and list several African American mentors and speakers in design related disciplines and to make this information available to professionals as well as the general public for lectures and presentation at special occasions, art and society events, university lecture series and for primary and secondary inner-city school programs. The Student Summer Workshop lasted eight annual sessions and sought to bring together students, particularly Black and Hispanic, from all points of the US, the Caribbean, Africa, and other countries to study ”Afri-centricity” as it might relate to architecture, design, and planning.
Jack Travis’ efforts in investigating the contributions of Blacks in Architecture, over those eight years, have been awarded with grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the AIA College of Fellows, the Graham Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2022, Jack is looking to revive the Studio into a worldwide online platform with the Annual Student Summer Workshop to include interior design within the focus of the program. It is his commitment going forward in the post-pandemic environment, which introduces even more challenges to the future success of young black people, to provide a studio setting where upper division and advanced students can come together, work on projects from a non-tradition perspective and begin to mentor others in the process.
