Hall of Fame 2022
2022 Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame celebrates the achievements of individuals who have contributed to the rich cultural history and community of our beloved neighborhood.
Our 2022 honorees are: Grammy award winning jazz bassist, jazz fusion pioneer and film composer Stanley Clarke, Founder of the Colored Girls Museum, social practice artist and social scholar Vashti Dubois, and State Senator, policy maker and community advocate Art Haywood – each embodies the extraordinary skills and talents that significantly contribute to the civic, educational, and artistic fabric of our community. For the 2022 Hall of Fame, we will build upon the success and creativity of our most recent virtual events with engaging stories that illustrate what is special about this community, its people, and its history – and will be returning to an in-person event on June 9, 2022! (Get your tickets by clicking on the button below).
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Stanley Clarke |
Stanley Clarke – Long before he became a four-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, performer, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, a composer for recordings and film, as well as one of the most celebrated acoustic and electric bass players in the world, Stanley Clarke was a student. Stanley’s “school days” were not only the inspiration for his world-renowned bass anthem, but essential to the origin story of the pioneering bass virtuoso from the streets of Philadelphia.
In his early teens, Stanley moved from the violin, his fingers were too big for, and the cello that never sat well with him, to an abandoned acoustic double bass in the corner of a school band room. It was the first of many moments that would shape his future and the role of the bassplayer for years to come. In the early 1980s, Stanley and longtime friend and colleague, keyboardist George Duke, teamed up to launch The Clarke/Duke Project. The duo scored a top 20 pop hit with “Sweet Baby,” recorded three albums and toured the world many times over. Stanley’s storied career includes a world tour with guitarist Jeff Beck (1979), collaborations with The Police drummer Stewart Copeland as part of Animal Logic with (two albums and tours in 1989) , the Superband (which included Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee and Deron Johnson, 1993-1994), The Rite of Strings (Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola, 1995 and 2004) and recording and touring with Vertu’ (Lenny White, Rachel Z, Karen Briggs and Ritchie Kotzen, 1999). Perhaps the thing that Stanley is most proud of is the role of his band as a showcase for the musicianship of established and developing artists over the years. This long list includes talents like keyboardist Deron Johnson, bassist Armand Sabal-Lecco, violinist Mads Tolling, saxophonist Kamasi Washington, as well as its current members, keyboardist Cameron Graves, drummer Mike Mitchell and pianist Beka Gochiashvili, the latter of whom joined the band at 17 and 16 years old respectively. Stanley remains as driven today as the teen prodigy from Philly with big dreams, and now, a lifetime of legendary accomplishments and contributions. |
Info/Image from StanleyClarke.com |
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Vashti Dubois |
Vashti Dubois founder and Executive Director of The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia PA. is a social practice artist, creative scholar, and institution-builder. After a thirty year career in the nonprofit sector DuBois founded the Colored Girls Museum (TCGM) a grassroots “place-based” living museum that honors and memorializes the experiences of women and girls of the African Diaspora. The first of its kind, the museum initiates the object—submitted by the Colored Girl herself—as representative of an aspect of her story and personal history which she finds meaningful. TCGM distinguishes itself by exclusively collecting, preserving, honoring and decoding artifacts pertaining to the experience and herstory of ordinary girls of The African Diaspora. This museum is equal parts research facility, exhibition space, gathering place and think tank. TCGM has been engineered to travel, popping up in cities and neighborhoods around the world , transforming ordinary spaces into Colored Girls Museum outposts.TCGM is the first museum of her kind. In addition to her upcoming induction as a 2022 honoree at the Germantown Hall of Fame, DuBois is a 2022 Fellow at Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts, where she will be working on her forthcoming book, Housework: A Memoir. In the past year, our museum has been featured or cited in a variety of journals, books, and publications. For example, TCGM was the subject of a chapter in the critically acclaimed anthology Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham (Random House, 2021) and cited as a major inspiration for Damaris B. Hill’s book of narrative verse “Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood” (Bloomsbury, 2022). Says Hill: “The poems in this book are a type of ekphrasis that is inspired by an exhibit at The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia entitled ‘In Search of The Colored Girl.’” Another example is a recent article authored by Founder Vashti DuBois entitled “Fabrics of Home: Weaving Heritage at the Colored Girls Museum” that appears in the quarterly print and digital publication Surface Design Journal (Winter 2021) |
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Senator Art Haywood |
Art Haywood was raised by his mother, a public-school teacher, who instilled in him the value of hard work and getting a quality education. He began working at the age of nine as a newspaper delivery boy.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree and graduating Magna Cum Laude from Morehouse College, Art went on to attend the London School of Economics as a Marshall Scholar to complete his master’s degree, and then graduated from the University of Michigan Law school in 1985. Art began working at Community Legal Services, saving families from home foreclosure. He also worked at Regional Housing Legal Services, and in private practice as a lawyer, assisting nonprofit organizations to revitalize neighborhoods. Art has previously served as legal counsel to Esperanza, a community development organization in the Hunting Park section of North Philadelphia. In 2009, Art was inspired by President Barack Obama to run for township commissioner in Cheltenham. He won that election, and his work as commissioner included divesting pension money from gun-makers, starting the Sustainable Cheltenham initiative, and creating a non-discrimination ordinance for sexual orientation and gender identity. After serving as President of the Board of Commissioners in Cheltenham, he was elected State Senator for the 4th district in 2014. Through his leadership as a State Senator, Art has worked to reduce homelessness through expansion of the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Act, passed requirements to test for lead in water in Pennsylvania schools, and successfully championed legislation to relocate domestic violence survivors living in public housing. Art completed his Poverty Listening Tour in 2019 and issued a report with 20 recommendations to reduce poverty in every community of Pennsylvania. In 2020, he fought for $193 million in federal CARES Act funds to be allocated to prevent evictions, foreclosures, and homelessness in Pennsylvania during the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency awarded Art the Award of Excellence for his advocacy for affordable and fair housing and homelessness prevention. Art is the author of Campaigns for COMPASSION: A Story of Community Change, published in January 2021. The Arc of Pennsylvania honored him with their 2021 “Legislator of the Year” award for demonstrating exceptional leadership in addressing the needs of Pennsylvanians with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In February 2021, Governor Tom Wolf appointed Art to his COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force to improve the vaccine distribution in Pennsylvania. City & State Magazine listed him on the Pennsylvania Healthcare Power 100 List in their July 2021 issue for his work as the minority chair of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee and member of the task force. Most recently, Art organized with African American college students to end campus racism at Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education universities. He was instrumental in the state legislature passing $200 million for PASSHE, which includes funding for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This ensures the safety and success of Black, Brown, and White students on the 14 college campuses. Art has three adult children and resides in Wyncote with his wife for 30 years, Julie. |
Senator Art Haywood (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery)
Jan. 22, 2018.
Photo by James Robinson | Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus
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