ATLANTA, GA, November 4, 2009 – The National Black Arts Festival’s (NBAF) Education and Family Programs takes its replica of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s childhood home on the road with the 2009 Penn Center Study Tour as part of its “Growing the Dream” project. NBAF is sponsoring the 2009 Penn Center Study Tour to the 27^th Annual Penn Center Heritage Days Celebration beginning Thursday, November 12, 2009, through Saturday, November 14, 2009. In addition to engaging participants in learning about the legacy of the Gullah/Geechee people of the Sea Islands St. Helena Island, South Carolina, the Study Tour will enlighten participants on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his connection to Penn Center.

“It is a perfect fit for the replica to travel to Penn Center,” said Dr. Collette Hopkins, NBAF’s Director of Education and Family Programs. “Dr. King had a home at Penn Center where he would rest and plan the Civil Rights Movement.”

This two-day experience will provide participants with the rich history and culture of the Gullah/Geechee people, as well as insight into Dr. King’s life through an interactive technology kiosk, the replica of the boyhood home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which was recently featured as a part of NBAF’s 2009 Children's Education Village, and children’s activities designed to teach the twelve (12) core values that are the cornerstone of the Project. The replica house is part of the “Growing the Dream” project, which explores the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The replica home is a two-thirds scale house built by R. Paul Thomason, Associate Professor of Drama and Dance at Spelman College, and his production team. NBAF’s Youth Docents who led the children’s activities during the 2009 Children's Education Village will recreate the interactive experience for the Penn Center Heritage Days Celebration.

The Penn Center Study Tour will depart from the Auburn Avenue Research Library promptly at 6:00 pm on Thursday, November 12, 2009 and return on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at approximately 11 pm. The cost of the Study Tour is $150 per person, which includes roundtrip motor coach transportation, double-occupancy hotel accommodations, and a one-year NBAF membership.

Pre-registration is required for all persons interested in attending. NBAF is offering five (5) Professional Learning Units (PLU’s) for educators. Educators must pre-register for the Study Tour, participate in a pre-departure class session, and complete a course assignment and presentation to receive the five (5) PLU’s. The deadline for registration is Friday, November 6, 2009 at 5:00 pm. Registration materials are available online at www.nbaf.org.

For additional information or to register by phone for the study tour, please contact Dr. Collette Hopkins by phone at 404-224-3464 or via email at chopkins@nbaf.org.

ABOUT "GROWING THE DREAM"
Since its inception, NBAF's Children's Education Village has delighted and engaged thousands of children, and their families, in the history and culture of Africa and the African Diaspora. NBAF continues that tradition this year with its multi-year, multi-media "Growing the Dream" project. Based on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the "Growing the Dream" project features a child-sized replica of King's historic boyhood home. Parents are invited to bring their children to tour the home and to participate in a variety of interactive experiences.

Major funding for this NBAF's Education and Family Programs is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners through the Fulton County Arts Council, Georgia Council for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Zeist Foundation, City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, Georgia Tourism Foundation, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Publix Supermarkets Charities and the Nonprofit Finance Fund/Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding for educational programming is provided by the Nissan Foundation, Ray M. and Elizabeth Lee Foundation and the Woodruff Arts Center.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL BLACK ARTS FESTIVAL
The National Black Arts Festival (NBAF) is one of the premier national and international celebrations of the art, music and culture of people of African descent. The mission of the NBAF is to engage, cultivate and educate diverse audiences about the arts and culture of the African Diaspora and provide opportunities for artistic and creative expression. NBAF produces year-round education programming, as well as events presented in collaboration with our partners, in addition to the annual summer festival for which the organization is named. Recognized as an innovator in the arts, NBAF was recently selected to participate in Leading for the Future: Innovative Support for Artistic Excellence, a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, for its technology initiative. NBAF was granted a $1 million, 5-year restricted grant to participate in Leading for the Future (LFF), a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The grant focuses specifically on the use of technology and new media as a tool for communication and development of new audiences, as well as the dissemination of creative ideas and expression. More information on NBAF's technology initiative is available at www.nbaf.org.

Major funding for this organization is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners through the Fulton County Arts Council, Georgia Council for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, Georgia Tourism Foundation, Georgia Humanities Council, and the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.

ABOUT PENN CENTER
Tucked in the heart of the South Carolina Sea Islands between glimmering marshes and deep water, nestled beneath the silvery moss draped limbs of massive live oaks, you will find the Penn Center – the site of the country's first school for freed blacks and one of the most significant African American historical and cultural institutions on Gullah/Geechee culture and the connection to West Africa in existence today. Penn Center is also the training site where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) spent time for retreat and strategic planning.