AFRICAN AMERICAN ART & CULTURE COMPLEX

BIDS FAREWELL TO REVERED CO-DIRECTORS

FOLLOWING REMARKABLE TENURE

AS GREENS MOVE ON, AAACC BOARD TURNS TO NONPROFIT VETERAN

TO SERVE AS INTERIM DIRECTOR, WILL LAUNCH EXECUTIVE SEARCH

SAN FRANCISCO (August 21, 2025) – The Board of Directors of the African American Art & Culture Complex (AAACC), the venerable Western Addition-based showcase for Black creativity and Black artists, and vital community resource, announced the center’s longtime co-executive directors, Melonie and Melorra Green, have stepped down to pursue new ventures after a remarkably productive eight-year tenure.

AAACC’s Board of Directors announced it has brought on Niquole Esters, a highly experienced nonprofit professional, to serve as Interim Director of the center. The Board also announced it will launch an open, publicly noticed executive search for AAACC’s next permanent director this fall.

The Greens, twin sisters with deep roots in San Francisco’s arts community, a highly celebrated catalog of art projects and installations of their own, and a long history with AAACC as both creatives and administrators, stepped in as co-executive directors in 2017, during a turbulent period in the center’s history. They are widely credited with turning the nonprofit around and transforming the physical space at the three-story center into a visually astounding and economically viable magnet for Black artistic expression.

Located in the heart of the historic Fillmore district, AAACC is one of the premier Black arts and cultural institutions in the Bay Area. The center provides a wide variety of art and cultural programming for youth, adults and families, including visual, digital, and performance works.

“Melonie and Melorra have taken the cultural center into an era of sustained excellence – light years from where we were when they started, to where we are today,” said Ayo Suber, president of the AAACC Board of Directors. “The center has never looked better, has never been more vibrant and full of life. They persevered through the pandemic years and numerous other challenges, and still the center flourished. And through it all, AAACC has remained a sacred safe space for the community.”

AAACC’s Board credited the Greens for not only stabilizing the organization in 2017 when they first took over, but for launching a new era of growth and impact in the years since the pandemic. Since 2020, AAACC has:

·      produced and collaborated on more than 75 arts and/or community-centered events, attended by more than 5,000 people

·      provided direct financial support and other resources to nearly 500 artists

·      launched a variety of variety of community serving and healing programs

·      mounted a more than 20 shows in its groundfloor art gallery

·      opened a groundfloor café

·      filled all three floors of the building with visually arresting permanent and temporary art

“Through the power of artistic expression, Melonie and Melorra looked to empower marginalized voices, challenge existing narratives, and advocate for positive change,” said Mattie Scott, the Board’s vice-president and one of Fillmore’s most trusted community voices. “With resources and bold leadership provided by Mayor London Breed and AAACC’s willingness to step up, for a few years the City really made it a priority to link Black arts, Black health, and Black wellness, in order to revitalize and empower our community.”

As they close this chapter, Melorra and Melonie Green are stepping into a new era of transformation, advancing their work in research, media, and innovation. Together and individually, they will continue to explore the intersections of technology, creativity, and equity. 

Melorra Green said: “This has been the honor of a lifetime — to serve our community through the arts, to uplift Black voices, and to create a space where our people could see themselves reflected in all their brilliance. We are proud of how far AAACC has come and are deeply grateful to every artist, neighbor, and partner who trusted us to walk this journey together. As we step forward, we do so knowing the legacy of Black joy, creativity, and resilience at AAACC will continue to thrive.”

Melonie Green added: “Our goal has always been to leave the African American Art & Culture Complex stronger than we found it, and to ensure it remains a sacred space for healing, imagination, and possibility. We are confident in Niquole’s leadership and the vision of the Board, and we’re excited to see AAACC soar into its next chapter. This community deserves nothing less than excellence, and we will continue to champion that from wherever we stand.”

AAACC is housed in a historic, 32,000-square-foot former local brewery built in 1935 and transformed into a community gathering place over the course of the ’80s and ’90s. The building is owned by the City & County of San Francisco. AAACC has operated the facility since the early 1990s, when it formally launched as one of the City’s seven neighborhood cultural centers, as part of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Neighborhood Arts Program. (The building, at 762 Fulton Street, is slated to close temporarily for seismic renovations in 2026.)

The center is also home to the 206-seat Buriel Clay Theater which serves as a site for theater productions, dance performances, concerts, film and video screenings, seminars, and workshops; and the Sargent Johnson and Hall of Culture galleries, which are dedicated to exhibiting artwork from and about the African Diaspora.