MADISON (WKOW) — After years several years of planning, the Center for Black Excellence & Culture opened its doors to the public Wednesday.
After a ribbing cutting ceremony was held outside the Center, community members were invited inside a building that represents a major milestone for the Black community.
Rev. Dr. Alex Gee Jr. is the founder of The Center and has been spearheading the project for several years.
“This center is necessary, this center is overdue, this center is infrastructure for identity. It is an ecosystem for Black culture and art,” Gee said. “The Center for Black Excellence and Culture is not a museum of what was, it’s a blueprint for what is next.”
Dr. Gee is a pastor at the Fountain of Life Church on Madison’s south side and has now created a place where Black people can have community.
It is located on Badger Road, just off of Park Street and overlooks the Madison Beltline.
It’s a three-story facility that offers spaces to rent for workshops and programs to educate children and help them develop leadership skills.
Jerome Hunt is a donor to the Center and will be leading a music program for young students.
“Kids need to learn contract negotiation. They need to learn how to start up their own LLC or their own music company. They need to learn how to set up their own publishing,” Hunt said.
The Center picked up momentum in 2022 after they received federal funding for the building. They broke ground in 2024 and had enough funding from the community to be completely debt free.
Harry Hawkins is a youth program coordinator at the Center and is excited to grow and learn new skills.
“It’s inspiring. You can feel it like when you walk in and you see all the different arts and just life on the walls,” Hawkins said.
Both Hawkins and Hunt reiterated their excitement for the community, saying that something like the Center finally available is beneficial in an area where Black people are the minority.
“In our country, there’s a lot of pushback to things like this that really push back on a celebration of diversity and culture,” Hawkins said.
“Pastor Alex, he just saw a vision. We needed a voice. We needed a platform. We needed something that was ours to be able to showcase our talent, not just the past, but just move everything into the future. And he nailed it 10 for 10 with this place,” Hunt said.
