Event
&
Studio Tours
Advancing the Legacy
The James Weldon Foundation
Events & Tours
The James Weldon Johnson Foundation organizes annual events and studio tours to celebrate the creative achievements of its Fellows and foster community engagement with the arts. These events include receptions, exhibitions, and guided tours of the Daniel Arts Center at Simon’s Rock and the Fellows’ studios, offering attendees a firsthand look at the creative process.
A highlight of these gatherings is the exclusive tour of Five Acres, James Weldon Johnson’s historic summer retreat, which includes his home and writing cabin. This sacred space, where Johnson composed some of his most celebrated works, provides visitors with a profound connection to his legacy. By bringing together artists, supporters, and the community, these events honor Johnson’s enduring values of creative expression, social equity, and cultural enrichment, while supporting the Foundation’s mission to uplift and inspire through the arts.
Augusta Savage, “Bust of James Weldon Johnson.” Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
“Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day—
I softly sing.
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
And, sing, and sing.”
—James Weldon Johnson, Excerpt from “The Gift to Sing,” published in 1917 in Johnson's book Fifty Years & Other Poems , The Cornhill Company, 1917.