Idris Ackamoor and Cultural Odyssey

Founded in 1979, Idris Ackamoor and Cultural Odyssey (CO) produces original work rooted in African American music, dance, and theatrical traditions. The organization’s original programming consists three to four annual productions performed before 4,000 locals and a further 15,000 who see their work on national and international tours. Mr. Ackamoor achieved notoriety in the 1970s with his fusion jazz band The Pyramids, collaborated with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and currently produces jazz-based performances in San Francisco and curates the National Black Theater Festival in North Carolina. Ms. Jones is an actress and singer who has pioneered artistic processes to transform the lives of incarcerated women through her Medea Project. Having performed at Lincoln Center and in San Quentin Prison, Ms. Jones was named a 2008 United States Artist Fellow. Renewed support of CO will facilitate the development of a new work in collaboration with African-American patients in treatment at the UC Medical Center's Women's HIV Program at UCSF. CO runs on a $300,000 annual budget and, though it has run operating deficits in the recent grant period, has a healthy cash reserve and is on secure financial footing. Ongoing general operating support will allow the two senior artists to design a comprehensive retirement package –and to share this model with other small arts organizations who, typically, have little to no mechanism for supporting life-long artists after they retire.