Mavuno Festival returns to Sewickley's Sweetwater Center for the Arts

When most people think about Black history in Western Pennsylvania, they think about the Hill District.

But as longtime residents said, don’t forget about Sewickley.

Sewickley has a lot of Black history in its own right, from the prevalence of Black businessmen and the many Tuskegee Airmen who lived in the area to great jazz musicians like Lena Horne, Cab Calloway and Ray Charles, who played at the Sewickley American Legion Post 450.

The upcoming annual Mavuno Festival at Sweetwater Center for the Arts celebrates the artistry and prominence of Black people in the community.

Bonita Penn, 68, a poet and multimedia artist, grew up in Sewickley and attended school there in the 1960s and ‘70s. Penn is a board member of Sweetwater and is on the Mavuno Festival committee.

“We are really excited. We want people to see artists at work, whether that be in painting, fiber arts or sculpture,” Penn said.

The Mavuno Festival was founded in 1996 by Black artists and teachers in the Sewickley and Ohio Valley region with major input from the late artist Elizabeth “Betty” Douglas to celebrate and showcase Black artists’ accomplishments.

The event has evolved into a festival and exhibition, said Liana Agnew, director of artistic advancement at Sweetwater Center for the Arts.

The word Mavuno in Swahili means “first fruit,” and the festival is held in late September to reflect the traditional harvest season, Penn said.

This year, the festival will feature an anchoring exhibition at Sweetwater called “Visions in Motion,” displaying artwork from the all-Black women artists’ group Women of Visions (WOV) that opens on Sept. 20. The exhibition will be on display until Nov. 2.

The festival, featuring local artisans, food vendors, a sushi truck and entertainment, will take place on Sept. 21 from noon to 6 p.m. at Riverfront Park, 300 Chadwick St.

“These are energetic Black women artists who have really developed their craft,” Penn said.

One of those women is artist Ashanté Josey, who also designed the flyer for the festival.

“I chose to represent my style as a Black artist, including the Black woman portrait while also adding details and colors that symbolize the meaning of Mavuno,” she said.

Josey said that WOV brings a new layer to the festival because of its legacy as a long-standing Black women’s collective in the U.S., founded in 1981.

Penn said it is also important for younger artists to know that they can pursue art and hopefully be inspired to develop their skills at Sweetwater.

A new element at this year’s festival is advocacy for mental and physical health — an STI testing truck and a mental health advocate will be on-site.

“We want people to be able to figure out their status and remain safe. We know that the Black community is disproportionately affected by STIs, and we want to provide education around that,” said Day Bracey, who is also on the Mavuno Festival committee.

Another change this year is the addition of a closing reception on Nov. 2, with a comedy show featuring Learnmore Jonasi, a comedian from Zimbabwe who lives in Pittsburgh. Jonasi has recently competed on “America’s Got Talent.”

“The overall mission is to celebrate local BIPOC artists,” Agnew said. This year, they expect about 200 attendees.

Bracey, founder of Barrel & Flow, said the organization partnered with Sweetwater three years ago to make the festival more culturally impactful. He introduced the beer garden aspect, which costs $20 for unlimited pours and will feature four Black-owned fermenters — TLC Libations, Windy Bridges Brew LLC, Altered Genius Brewing Co. and Dope Cider House & Winery.

Bracey noted that attendance has increased and that the festival has attracted sponsorships, including The Sewickley Eye Group, which is sponsoring the Mavuno Beer Garden, and the Wilson Group, a Black-owned family business that is sponsoring the festival.

Bracey said it’s important to help Black artists generate more money, and the community is supporting that effort.

“Sometimes we forget Black people live outside of the blue dots, and we forget the contributions made here. It’s easy to be Black and proud in a place like Atlanta or Philly, but we want people to have the opportunity to feel that here too,” Bracey said.

When Penn considers the responsibility of Black artists, she thinks of poet Amiri Baraka’s quote, “The responsibility of an artist is to uplift the consciousness of the community.”

“That’s what we do,” she said. “Support the community, encourage the community and show a different side of things.”