ALA hosted its first-ever Sherehe on July 10, 2021 in celebration of our young artists and to pledge support for further development of the creative arts at ALA. The event and the performances from current student, Sabiqah Bello, alum, Niu Raza and long-time friend of ALA, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, are at the heart of why the auditorium is being renovated and artistic studios refurbished.
Shehere was also an opportunity to celebrate the transition in our leadership at African Leadership Academy as viewers from around the globe welcomed our newly appointed CEO, Bilha Ndirangu.
Since its inception, ALA has always possessed an abundance of artistic talent amongst our students. The talent was not always matched by the resource, capacity, and stage from which to practise, collaborate, and perform. This interest and passion for the arts is also present and active amongst our global network of friends, supporters, and other external stakeholders.
To enable creative discovery and learning on campus, ALA seeks to build a Creative Arts Commons consisting of five studio spaces and a renovated auditorium. The project will modify existing spaces on campus to provide an indoor space for gatherings and workshops and to enhance and expand the Academy’s arts program.
The studios will cater to the most practiced and performed arts on campus and will comprise the Dance Studio, Digital Editing and Recording Studio, Visual Arts Studio, Choir Studio, and the Music Studio.
The new Creative Commons will improve ALA’s ability to properly nurture an array of artistic, dance, and music talents and produce segments with a range of professionals who wish to share their gifts with ALA.
To strengthen global convenings like Sherehe, the new auditorium will be outfitted with a state-of-the-art plug-and-play audio-visual system, in addition to being carefully designed for great acoustics.
As Sherehe was preparing to air, VP for Entrepreneurship and Growth, Josh Adler and Networks team member Matthieu Maralak helped finalize plans for the new systems that will grace the renovated auditorium. Their AV demo room visit to see the equipment that has been selected for the space, confirmed that the selections will make for a great audio-visual experience at the auditorium.
A range of cameras, amplifiers, computers, controllers, players, processors and consoles will combine to create a versatile system to accommodate our various mixing, audio and video recording, sound amplification, control and playback needs for our wide variety of programs, including relatively small ones like assembly and larger ones like Community Call.
We are so grateful for our network of supporters and everyone who made a contribution to make our dream- the Creative Commons- a reality. Collectively, we raised over $100,000.
In case you missed it or just want to relive the experience, watch the video below.
If you did not have the chance to make a contribution, there’s still time for you to join us in igniting the arts at ALA and on the continent!
