Black Lunch Table facts for kids
The Black Lunch Table (BLT) is a special project that started in the United States in 2005. It focuses on collecting and saving the stories of Black artists. The BLT wants to make sure their amazing lives and artwork are remembered and shared.
What Does The Black Lunch Table Do?
The BLT does many cool things! They collect oral stories, which means they record people talking about their experiences. They also host "salons," which are like friendly get-togethers where people talk about art history.
They also have workshops where people teach each other. The BLT organizes meetups and special events called Wikipedia edit-a-thons. At these events, people work together to write and improve articles on Wikipedia.
The main goal of the BLT is to help make art history more complete. They want to make sure that the stories of all artists, especially African-American artists, are included and celebrated. This helps fix any unfairness in how artists are shown on Wikipedia.
How The Black Lunch Table Started
Artists Jina Valentine and Heather Hart created the Black Lunch Table in 2005. Their first event was at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, a place where artists go to work.
Since then, the BLT has held many edit-a-thons at different places. These include Boston University, Rutgers, The New School, and BRIC Arts Media.
In 2019, the BLT became a non-profit organization. This means it uses all its money to support its mission, not to make a profit.
Making a Difference
By 2020, the Black Lunch Table had hosted 72 Wikipedia events. These events took place in six different countries!
Through their work, they helped create 385 brand new articles on Wikipedia. They also uploaded 727 new images to Wikipedia. This helps more people learn about Black artists.
The organization has received support from many groups. Some of these include the Mellon Foundation, the Warhol Foundation, the Logan Foundation, and the Wikimedia Foundation.
