After the awards, the crowd planned to go to Arts Day at the Capitol to have face-to-face conversations with legislators.

An accomplished artist himself, he and his brother created one of the few showcases in the U.S. for an emerging generation of Black artists in the late 1960s.

It used to be the front doors to The Emporium, then a coal furnace and then a rehearsal studio. Now, The Furnace is taking on ...