By Hailey Stangebye

Thanksgiving is just a few days away. This holiday is a wonderful time for reflection, community and gratitude. When we look back on all that the Harlem Renaissance campaign has created over the past year, we’re thankful for Donna and Larry James.

Without Donna and Larry, this citywide campaign wouldn’t exist. Their collective vision for the future of our community makes Columbus a better place to live every day.

Through their unique capacity to build relationships and partnerships between organizations, Larry and Donna continue to shape this city’s future.

“I think the Harlem Renaissance campaign is the poster child for how to better bring the arts collectively together.”

“I think the Harlem Renaissance campaign is the poster child for how to better bring the arts collectively together,” Larry says. “You have 30 arts organizations and 150+ black artists celebrating education, entertainment, exposure and a quality of life.”

Larry and Donna were able to garner support from so many different organizations because they gave each collective the autonomy to contribute in their own way.

“The genius of the Harlem Renaissance is the simplicity of it,” Donna says. “When everyone can do what they do, but they’re focused on a common theme… I think that’s important for the future. I’m hoping this is a precedent for collaboration, not just in the arts, but across the community. Because there’s no way that we can get the things done that need to be done for the people who need it if we’re not collaborating.”

“The genius of the Harlem Renaissance is the simplicity of it. When everyone can do what they do, but they’re focused on a common theme… I think that’s important for the future. I’m hoping this is a precedent for collaboration, not just in the arts, but across the community.”

Donna says that creating opportunity through collaboration is one of the core factors that motivates their efforts.

“It’s difficult to talk about what motivates you, because you can achieve a certain level of success individually. But you have to figure out what the collective piece is,” Larry says. “So, relationship building really drives [us]. And exceptional relationships, as we formed with the Harlem Renaissance, can help you get better. That’s what motivates us. To always strive to be better.”

Thank you, Donna and Larry, for showing us that we are better and stronger when we work together.

Nannette Maciejunes, executive director of the Columbus Museum of Art, and Tripp Fontane, the spoken-word poet, represented the Harlem Renaissance campaign on Good Morning Columbus for their show on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018.

This feature is a small taste of the wealth of experiences and moments we’ve created — and continue to create — to celebrate the anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. In the coming weeks, we’ll release the stories of each artist who traveled from Columbus to Harlem, including the story of Tripp Fontane.