GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives finally has its new home.
Executive director George Bayard is getting ready to open the doors to the public next week as he carefully hangs the museum's first exhibit inside the 30,000-square-foot building on Sheldon Street.
With every nail and piece of two-sided tape, Bayard is putting up pieces of work that tell important stories about African American history in Grand Rapids and beyond.
"The title of the show is ‘Nobody Knows,’” Bayard said.
The first piece displayed is a copy of President Gerald R. Ford recognizing February as Black History Month 50 years ago.
"We're hoping that it's one of the things that helps people to recognize that Black history is a part of American history," Bayard said.
The museum goes by the acronym GRAAMA, pronounced like grandma, which Bayard says has special meaning.
"We did that purposely, too. Grandma is the person who got me into collecting. Grandmas are the people who keep the history in the family. So it's a nice acronym for us," Bayard said.
Bayard says there's still work to be done, including opening an independent movie theater space that will host multiple types of events.
"We can have live performances, we can have lectures, we can have conferences," Bayard said.
The executive director wants the facility to serve as a community center with new exhibit spaces and programming.
"There's no limit to the options of things that people want to use this space for. Our team is right now trying to come up with, actually, a schedule to try and get everybody squeezed in," Bayard said.
The museum is still finalizing admission costs for visitors, estimating between $5 and $10, but is scheduled to open next week.
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