Karamu House

The Karamu House renovation brings the strong identity of the organization’s history and mission to the building itself, while acknowledging its place on the National Register of Historic Places. Founded in 1915, Karamu is the oldest African American producing theater in the United States and from its inception has always provided arts education. The building has great bones, but needed to be updated to give the community a high-quality, aesthetically pleasing facility for future generations to enjoy.

Karamu is Swahili and means “A place of joyful gathering.” Along with professional theater production, Karamu provides arts education and community events for all people, no matter race, religion, culture or economic background, while honoring the African American spirit. The objective was to design a place that inspires and motivates people to be part of the Karamu spirit. Also, the design required Karamu to have a presence on the street—an outward face that the community can embrace and rally around.

The renovations have been divided into multiple phases that allowed the facility to continue operating. The Jelliffe Theater was the first space to be renovated. Originally the lobby was directly connected to the theater, and the exterior areas negatively affected theater production. The new design steepens the theater seating rake and creates a new inner lobby, which helps control light and sounds from the outside. Other renovations include vestibule, gift shop, lobby and bar. Remaining areas such as the scene shop, Black Box Theatre, classrooms, outdoor stage, dressing rooms, restaurant, and outdoor gathering space are the next phases of the renovation plans.

Karamu is well positioned to continue to be home of arts education for Cleveland’s youth and build upon its unique relationship with the community.

Additional Information

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