MARION &8212; In their efforts to establish a museum to house history artifacts for Marengo County, representatives of Marengo History and Archives Museum Foundation recently attended the first Black Belt Arts Gathering, in hopes of gaining knowledge on grantfunding and similar Black Belt projects.

Little and Mary Fitt-Jones, were committee members, were among the 45 participants to take part in the Gathering on June 30 on the campus of Judson College in Marion.

This Gathering, hosted by the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) as a part of its Black Belt Arts Initiative program, provided networking opportunities for 21 arts and cultural organizations from across the Black Belt.

Of the 12 counties in BBCF&8217;s service area, 10 were represented on Saturday.

Groups were asked to bring a visual representation of the mission, goals and programs of their organizations.

Judson&8217;s Archibald Hall was filled with posters, canvases and quilts.

There was even a manikin representing the Choctaw County Community Sewing Bee and a plaster column adorned with information from Magnolia Grove Museum of Hale County.

Throughout the day, participants broke out into brainstorming and discussion groups, thus meeting new people and learning new ideas.

By late afternoon, the collective group had established strategies and steps for improving the work of their organizations and maintaining contact among themselves.

Little said the Foundation has already applied for and been approved for some grants for their project. The City of Demopolis has approved their use of the Rosenbush building downtown to house the museum.

BBCF&8217;s collaboration with the Youth&Cultural Committee of the Black Belt Action Commission and the Alabama State Council on the Arts produced the Black Belt Arts Initiative (BBAI) and made Saturday&8217;s event possible.

The goals of BBAI are to promote artists and arts awareness in the Black Belt, and to stimulate creativity among our youth.

BBCF believes that the most effective way to fulfill these goals is by providing support for those organizations that are promoting the arts in their own communities.

For more information on the Black Belt Community Foundation visit www.blackbeltfound.org.