Rob Lee: Welcome to The Truth in His Art, your source for conversations connecting arts, culture, and community. These are stories that matter, and I am your host, Rob Lee. Today, I'm excited to be running it back with my next guest, an artist, educator, and executive director of Afro Charities, a non-profit that preserves the Afro American Newspapers archives and creates public programming to engage the community with that legacy.
We first did an interview back in 2022, and I'm excited to welcome back Savannah Wood. Welcome back to the podcast. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming back on.
Thanks for making the time. You're, you know, for me, you know, we're like traveling ships. It's like, all right, I'm going to get Savannah. We're going to do this conversation. And originally, right, what I had in my mind, and it didn't happen, I didn't even reach out to you at this point. I was like, we can do this in February. Now we're in June.
So that's what happens. Look, and so, but before that, I think the last time we've seen each other in a few coffee shops here and there and in the city, you know, we both are an IRL, but it's been three years since our last conversation. So if you will, you know, maybe there are folks that need to dive in our archives.
There's a big archive. They need to go back and check out, you know, some of the other conversations that you may be in reference then, but could you reintroduce yourself and maybe share something that's been especially meaningful for you recently?
Savannah Wood: I'd be happy to reintroduce myself, especially because that past conversation is part of the lost files because I cast like a sailor when I'm feeling comfortable. And I realized that maybe that's not the best public image for me.
So thank you for accommodating my request to take that one down. My name is Savannah Wood. I am executive director of Afro Charities and we're a nonprofit partner to the 132, almost 133 year old Afro American newspaper company. Both organizations were founded in Baltimore, one of them in 1892. That's Afro News and the other in 1963. And so Afro Charities manages the Afro American newspaper companies archives. And we create really dynamic programming, artistic, educational and reference programming basically to bring those collections to the public.
And one of the biggest projects that we're doing, because I have to say it is establishing a public research center for this collection in West Baltimore at the historic Upton Mansion and that 16 million dollar projects will be open in 2026.
Rob Lee: Nice. Nice. And definitely we're going to dive into that a bit further. So outside of perhaps like your day to day, and I know that's a very busy sort of day to day, was something that's really been like giving you juice, giving you energy like recently and it's been meaningful to you, whether it be, you know, work related or maybe outside of work. Yeah.
Savannah Wood: I mean, the work related stuff always comes up just because it does. Recently I had the joy of presenting at Creative Mornings at White Angle Youth Media and I realized that I went to the some Creative Mornings, I don't know, maybe years ago and I was like, you know, I would do this. I would kill this. I was like, maybe they'll ask me one day and then they asked me and then I did it. And it was like, yeah, I killed it. I mean, I thought it felt really good. It felt really good.
And I don't mean to like say that in like a braggadocious way. I just mean like it was a really amazing forum to be able to share the full story of what we've been working on for the past six years. I'm a completely different person from when I first moved here.
It feels that way to me or first move back here rather. And it was just a really special experience to be able to reflect on that time in a space that was really accommodating and with an audience that was super engaged. And, you know, it just felt like the right thing at the right time. This week marks my sixth Baltimore anniversary of being back here. So it's just a full circle reflective moment. So that's been a joyful spot in my life and in this past couple of weeks. And then the other thing I think we're going to talk about later.
Rob Lee: So that's really, that's really tight. I love that. Also, this podcast is in year six, you know, it's season two, but it would be year six. July will be sort of that anniversary, if you will. And also as an alum of Creative Mornings as well, that was at the end of 2022. So the same year that we originally did the Convo, you know, I wrap up and everything that you're saying in your sort of experience there, I felt that same thing of like, OK, I'm on stage and all of my weirdness, I had a prop.
I was like, what am I, carrot top? What are we doing? I pulled out a weird jersey that has a nickname on there because the theme that I was doing was truth, you know, it was very apt and just a really, really cool experience. So shout out to the folks over there, Creative Mornings. Absolutely.
Savannah Wood: I was going to say shout out Kira and Mario and the whole rest of the team. They are really wonderful and they all work as volunteers, which is really kind of amazing. So thank you guys. Absolutely.
Rob Lee: So going back, let's talk a little bit about before we go into the bigger things. But, you know, we work with affer charities. It both feels it has the sort of memory, the archival nature and also it's preordained, right, you know, as a defendant and it's, you know, deeply rooted in your family's legacy. So how did you first step into this work and what continues to call you back? I think of this sort of bit where, you know, you have the family business and it's like, I'm going to do something different. And somehow it's just I'm still going to have the pizza shop that my dad had, you know what I'm thinking? So for you, how does that work as far as that initial and then sort of that calling back?
Savannah Wood: I've always been aware of the Afro's importance to some degree and the legacy of it. I should mention that the people who we call the founders of the newspaper are my great, great grandparents. So I'm in the fifth generation of their lineage. And, you know, nobody ever pressured me to go into the family biz.
Like it was never that kind of thing. But I do remember as a little kid, we would do this thing called Camp Branny, where my dad's mom would have all 16 of her grandchildren at her house during the summer for, I think it was two weeks and she would, you know, take us to church with her and teachers had a set of table and also put us out on the corner selling the Afro. And so I remember being like a very little child, like four, let's say, and being in the streets of Baltimore and DC selling the Afro.
And so, you know, I was kind of born into it in that way. And then when my family moved from Northern California to Baltimore in 1995, I believe, my aunt, who was working at the paper then, had her son and me as models for their advertising campaign. So I'm showing up there again, like seven, eight, you know, and after that, I really had no engagement with the organization. But I was introduced to kind of the creative potential of archives by working with the Astor Gates in Chicago at the Rebuild Foundation, where he's done a lot of really amazing work looking at archives, thinking about archives, collecting them, et cetera. And then after that, I moved back to Los Angeles, which is where I went to undergrad and worked for an organization called Clock Shop, which was founded by the filmmaker and artist, Julia Meltzer. And they were just getting started on their radio imagination program, which was a creative exploration of Octavia E. Butler's archives. And so those experiences really got me thinking about, well, I wonder if the Afro has an archive.
And of course we do. And so it's just been, you know, it's kind of just been following my curiosity since then. And I am an artist by training. And so we artists like to kind of come up with an idea and see where it can take us. Some of us are better at following through than others. And sometimes the work just forces you to follow through. And so there is no room for failure for me. That's kind of how I see it at this point, which can be stressful, but it's also, you know, I feel like I'm definitely collaborating with past generations on this project. And so I have a sense of assuredness that this will get done. Too many things have aligned too perfectly. For it to not happen.
I'm not going to say that we're not roadbugs along the way because there have been some wild things that have happened during this project that will stay under wraps until later.
Rob Lee: But you can interview number three, the second official one.
Savannah Wood: Call me in 20 years. I'm not ready to talk about that right now. But we're in a good spot, you know, like we've raised 15 of the $16 million that we need for this project for the building project. The team is solid. I mean, there's transitions happening right now, but it is growing. We're experiencing some growing pains, but we're all still really dedicated to this work. And so, yeah, it's just kind of beautiful. I'm happy to be here.
Rob Lee: Dedication, curiosity. It's important when you have those sort of periods where it's just like, kind of make the doughnuts, you know what I mean? And in doing this, and as I've done this over the nearly 900 episodes at this point, it's like, you know, people tell me, oh, this is our car. I was like, no, it's not at this podcast. It's like, you're capturing people over this and their stories authentically. And then some of you are interviewing again, showing the time has passed and all of this. These are moments in time. I was like, no, our times are for other people that are better than me.
And I think incorrect. But I think as I've kind of accepted it and played in, I get very much that curiosity is still that dedication is there, right? But I get into this stage where I'm very specific as to how I describe what I do and how I would describe what this is. And in the vein of what I do, I say that I'm a person that helps facilitate people sharing their story. That's how I see my role here. I'm not a storyteller in this regard. I can do that, but I'm helping someone share their story authentically, providing that framework.
So for you, how do you see your role today? Like I see words like cultural stew or pop up connector or for you, is it something else entirely? Like how would you deem it? Because, you know, executive directors and official quote unquote title, but how would you say it?
Savannah Wood: I think I'm definitely a steward. I think that's a really apt word for what I'm doing and it's and stewarding a lot of different things. I feel as though I am certainly stewarding the dreams of my ancestors in particular.
That feels really clear. We are stewarding these archives, so making sure that they're cared for and accessible. We are stewarding cohorts of young folks coming in as researchers and helping them find their way. We are helping people navigate. Like we're, I hesitate to say caretakers, but caretakers to a certain degree, but really just like guides along a path, guides.
And myself personally, I also feel like a bit of a conduit sometimes because there are things that come up where I'm like that. I guess is my idea, but then I'll find out later. I'm like, no, somebody had this idea like a generation ago or two and it just never got finished. And so they're like, you're the one who's going to do it or do your, like it's your turn to try, you know? So I definitely feel that too.
Rob Lee: I, I enjoy watching baseball and I was like, you're like the closer. It's like, yeah, we got to, we got to wrap this one up. It's like your turn. If you go, you go like land this ship, see if you can finish the game out for us.
Savannah Wood: And it's not even like a part of it is because of my skill set, but part of it is also because of, you know, the time. Like there's the will politically, maybe not so much right now, but when I first got started, but the will politically and the technology and the interest in the public in archives, like all of those things combined at the right time to make this the right time for this project. And then I happen to have, it's not happened to, I don't believe in chance really, but I happen to have the right skill set to be able to be the steward. And even the things that I didn't have the skill set for, I had the capacity to learn those things. And I had the naivety to think that I could learn those things. And so, or maybe like naivety or like audacity, one or the other, probably both. And so, you know, it's been a major growth process for sure.
Rob Lee: I think audacity can take you a long way sometimes. It's just like sometimes when I have certain guests on, you know, normally it's like, man, if I talk to myself, let's say five years ago, it's like, man, I shouldn't be interviewing them. And now it's just like, I have audacity to interview them. I'm going to work. I'm going to have the questions and all of that good stuff and prepared. But I get past that sort of, I don't belong here. I don't belong in this conversation. I think that sort of combination, you know, of curiosity and audacity can be a really powerful combo.
Savannah Wood: Well, yeah, I mean, and I keep going, but is it naivety or naivety? Naivety. It's both, but it's like one is French and one's, okay. I should know this. I studied French, but it's fine. Anyway, I feel like that is helpful for just like being a little delusional helps you get in the door. And then at a certain point you're like, oh, I'm out of my element. And then you just have to like figure it out. And then you have to be audacious in order to like to do it. So maybe it's one thing leads to another.
Rob Lee: So I want to move into this question that really it connects sort of things that I listen to, to, when someone has like a, an athletic endeavor, I'm very curious. So in Haruki Morakami, the Japanese novelist often writes about how running sharpens his mind and builds up this sort of kind of endurance that he needs for creative work. He writes, so, you know, having this and there's a book I'm paraphrasing, but I think it's called like what I think about when I'm running. And I've engaged in sort of like powerlifting weightlifting over the last like two years.
And that's been very interesting. So I'm curious about how athletic athletics play into the role of like a creative person and artist and a high performer such as yourself. And I see tennis popping up all the time. I'm here getting these tennis clubs is like exclusive, exclusive.
Savannah Wood: It's not that exclusive. Where's my invite? I just posted a public thing. Anyway, I'm offline right now. There you go. That's where your invite is online. Well. You know, I kind of cycle through things. So I hope tennis is long lasting, but it's been it's been great so far. Yoga has been a pretty consistent or all enduring, let's say, enduring practice for me.
Not always consistent. Running, I tried that temporarily. It worked for about a year. I had like an all Sagittarius run club. Everybody lived in Mount Vernon. Everybody's name started with either an S or an S sound. And it was not intentional. It just happened that way, but it was funny.
So it was a centaur running club. And, you know, I decided with a friend of mine that, you know, neither of us had played tennis in years. I had some lessons as a kid and that's it. We decided, you know what, let's go out and play. Let's see if we're any good. And so we went out and it was like 95 degrees that day, but we just went in the evening and stayed a long time and stayed for like maybe three hours because it was just that much fun. And both of us were really competitive, even though we had no business acting like we were competitive.
Rob Lee: The audacity.
Savannah Wood: Yeah, I mean, I think that's the delusional part. The audacity is now like, oh, you're going to have a tennis club. Like, girl, you don't have enough going on. So two people turned into four turned into six turned into, you know, now there's probably like 40 people on a group chat that, you know, are just figuring out, are you free this night?
Are you free this night? Whatever. And then this all started maybe like summer last year. So it's been almost a year. And I just, my brother was saying, you got to make this into a day. You make it. Go get sponsorship. Well, I'm like, I have enough work as it is. I don't want to do that thing. But we are going to do, we have done one, like all levels, public meetup.
And then there's another one coming up on June 28th. And our name is the tennis leisure club. Although there is less leisure involved than the name would suggest. But, you know, you know, tennis itself is a leisurely activity in theory.
The fact that you would have time to do it. So I love it. It's just, I need a way to get stress out of my body to move my energy around, you know, so it's just been incredibly helpful for that. A huge endorphin boost with so much going on in the world outside of my work life.
And so much to be just like really down about. It is a huge spiritual lifter for me. And then the fact that you can do it in community with people is makes it even better and to be outside is really nice to take advantage of public parks in the city is really nice. And the fact that it doesn't require a lot of equipment and only requires one other person or even a wall.
Rob Lee: That's good. And I like that sort of balance because, you know, one of the things that going back to creative mornings, one of the things I left with just had a lot of questions. I was like, I want to have this much interest in what I do. And it was just so many questions at the end of like, you know, how do you do so much and all of these sort of different things? And one of the things that I took away and I've applied was you need to balance yourself a bit better.
Like you're going to burn yourself out. So hearing that when you have a goal, you have a curiosity and you're able to, you know, kind of protect that energy and kind of get that stress out, get that energy and flow in in a certain way is really important. And, you know, whenever I see someone who's a guest in this pod, because it's been effective for me of having like a regular physical activity and also it serves as a win to start the day for me. I get up and I run and I lift. That's just what I do. And when I've accomplished things or when I've kind of gotten better, I take that sense of accomplishment throughout the day. So when I get to this part of the day, we're recording this later in the day, I feel like, oh, I'm looking forward to that versus it feeling like, ah, I got to work. The internet's weird and all of these factors that are normal bugaboos for this sort of process.
Savannah Wood: Mm hmm. And for me, I'm looking forward to tennis at the end of the day, generally. So I'm supposed to go play tonight, but we have our big fundraiser on Saturday. So I'm like, I'm tired. We'll see. We'll see.
Rob Lee: So you touched on, I want to switch gears a little bit. You tease maybe a little bit of the programming and, you know, I've read about some of this excellent program and I see artist commissions, I see youth programming, legacy programming. What are some of the ways that your work is reimagining or the work of Afro charities is reimagining how archives can be activated just beyond sort of preservation per se?
Savannah Wood: Yeah, I mean, for basically 130 something years, the archives have mostly been used internally as a reference for Afro news staff. And then there are some researchers who are aware of the black press and its legacies and its importance, and they have also sought the collections out.
But that is, you know, pretty much it. And so what I realized pretty quickly is that the collections document world history for sure through the Afro lens. But there's also just everyday people that are in here and people's ancestors are documented in the collection.
So the same way that I'm able to find my ancestors, maybe not exactly the same because we're very heavily documented in there, but there's most people who live in Baltimore in particular could probably find something in there that's related to them if they have some roots here. And so with all of our programming, what we're aiming to do is to in, excuse me, with all of our programming, what we're aiming to do is to invite non-traditional researchers into the collections. And so we do that through a lot of different ways.
Like we really try to be intergenerational also, multi-generational. So for instance, we were just at ArtScape tabling there and we took some of these political cartoons that were produced in the Afro for 40 years by a guy named Thomas Stockett and reproduced some of those cartoons, just copied them and brought them to ArtScape with some crayons and just set up a coloring table. So kids are now coloring in, one of them was a little girl playing tennis. But coloring in these things, and it wasn't just kids. I mean, it's people of all ages came and stopped by and we were just coloring on these pages. And whether they read the little caption that goes with it or not, that gives you the historical background for it, whatever. You now have some frame of reference for one of the types of materials that's in the collection. Now, as the kids sitting there, we're talking to their parent about the rest of the archives and the building that we're building and the other programming that we're doing.
And so there's just always a way in. Our director of programs and partnerships, Dion Moses, you know, is looking for evidence of line dancing in the collection. So we can like do a booth on the ground tutorial and talk and get people coming in that way. Like there's just infinite ways that you can invite people into the archives because there's so many topics that are covered there. And so our programming is aimed at highlighting that. And then with the artist commissions, that's directly inspired by the work that I did at Clock Shop in Los Angeles with the Octavia Butler project. And what I learned through that project is just that Artists always have a different perspective on things, number one. But artwork is another entry point for some people into archival historical research where you wouldn't get them other ways.
So if somebody is attracted to a piece of art, but there's archival material that's referenced in it, maybe they become more curious about the history that's there as well. So just trying to find lots of ways to engage people. And so those are a couple of the programs that we've done recently to do that. Great.
Rob Lee: And in having this multi-tiered approach that you're meeting folks where they're at, where they could be. And it's, I think it's important. I think, you know, especially now, and this next question relates, we have to be agile. And, you know, as I was sharing with you how I plan to kind of present certain elements of this conversation, you know, the sort of quote unquote magic bullet was like, oh, you should just do video, have the video out there. I was like, that's not always sustainable.
And it kind of the anti-tennis move. I don't just have a wall. I need another person for that whole.
I can't be agile and skinny with it. But I find that, you know, having these really great captions and I've been trying to integrate more of that and sort of the words of the person I think that there's value in that because, you know, as we see now, and this is where the segue comes in, we see now that history conversations, they're being rewritten at times and raised erased in real time. Of course, you know, that's nothing new, you know, but these tactics, especially now feel even bolder. And this podcast exists to push back against that. Like I have folks come on here, they share their story authentically, you know, warts and all or whatever the thing is, the ums are still included. So how do you see like sort of your work and resisting perhaps that erasure of things and that shifting or recontextualizing sort of real histories and things that may have happened?
Savannah Wood: I think it's just a continuation of the legacy of the Black Press. The first news black newspaper that came out, Freedom's Journal, was printed in 1826. And their thesis statement essentially was we want to plead our own cause for far too long. Others have spoken for us. And so with that, it's encapsulating the fact that the Black Press would not be purporting to be quote unquote neutral, but would be speaking from a very particular perspective about, you know, from the perspective of black people in America who have been systematically oppressed for generations since we got here. And so the archives reflect all of that history. The Afros own history reflects that, you know, just in the ways that they approach certain stories, the types of things that they would cover. And it's always been a paper of resistance in that way from its inception. So when we look at the archives, you know, you can look at an event that happened and you can look at it in the sun and you can look at it in the Afro and you'll probably get different stories.
If they even covered the same thing, you know, there might, you might not find it in one or the other because it wasn't of interest to the editor. And so that matters and that perspective matters. And so having a place where people can come to engage with those materials to learn that our world's history, because it really is an international history through the lens of the black people who are producing this product in Baltimore, is rare. And to see that for more than a century is rare to have that depth of history. So, you know, we're continuing that legacy through the work that Afro Charities is doing.
Rob Lee: The legacy is important. I mean, as you see these things, I can do a Google search when I'm preparing for an interview and like, look, you got to send me to buy it. I was like, I don't trust it's online anymore. It's like, this is generated by AI. It's like, why does it say I'm a dinosaur?
Savannah Wood: It's like, what is this? It's false. And going back to sort of this idea,
Rob Lee: I remember this conversation I had with D Watkins and, you know, kind of pulled out, you know, this notion of like, we got to speak for ourselves. It's just kind of what it is because it would be recontextualized or even this, you know, I look at folks that I've interviewed and I see that some of the larger publications, they suddenly noticed the person six months after I've interviewed them. I'm like, oh, so now you're tapped in. Who's working with you guys now?
Who's doing this outreach? And it's interesting to see it. And then I start looking at the through lines. And I just kind of keep doing the thing that I do and following what I'm curious about using quote unquote, my lens, but the lens, if you will, is rooted in who do I think is doing interesting work?
Who's got interesting stuff happening, especially in this season? You know, in the year that you and I initially chatted, you were one of 300 plus interviews that year. So I was an interviewer day. And in this year, I'm like, I'm trying to cap on it about 72 to 75 interviews. So going back through and catching up with folks, there's hundreds of people that like, I don't know if I want to go back, at least not right now.
So going back, that's a very strict and is a processing going through a very strict approach and sort of curating and doing the outreach for this. And earlier this year, this is something that came up earlier this year, there was a live discussion with Enoch Pratt and the Maryland State Archives. And the ARC, the AFRA Archives preservation was highlighted. Can you share like, you know, the preservation process that looks like and sort of what this collaboration meant?
And I ask, because I got like seeing when folks that I know of, and I know if their work start working together organizations that I'm aware of, so I'm just working together. So like, I had Chad Hilton on recently this season. And in previous years, that fellow Aquarius on that that's from the State Archives. And Chris, who was from the archives, and he was on here and I, you know, he really does good work and really stressing through some of the stuff in the archives. And he's an actor by trade, Chris Haley. And Alex Haley is a great actor. So it's really, really dope. So talk a bit about, you know, that collaboration that that process, be happy to.
Savannah Wood: So that was a lunch and learn that the Maryland State Archives hosts and Enoch Pratt kind of powers it by hosting the live stream for it. And the AFRA archives have been at the Maryland State Archives since, I believe, 2022, if I'm remembering correctly, the collections have moved around quite a bit as the Afro has moved a little bit. And as, you know, new interests from inside of the Afro or from Afro charities has kind of, I don't know, made it so that we need different kinds of spaces in order to care for the collections.
And so during actually a conversation with the Maryland Center for History and Culture, it must have been in 2021, I talked about the fact that the collections were in a location at that time that were not ideal for archival standards. And that I had gone home to Los Angeles for winter break for like, you know, holidays and stuff, and came back and, you know, there was a leak while I was gone and things got wet and damaged. And one day I came in, there was a dead bird under one of these shelving units.
And I was like, oh, no, this will never do. And so I was talking about that candidly because these are the real issues with maintaining collections, especially ones of this size and especially ones that are managed by legacy black institutions that do not get the kind of funding and support that they require. So as I was talking about that, Maria Day from the Maryland State Archives was in the audience at that presentation.
And she reached out to me and said, you know, we might have some space for you guys. And so she was really the connector to make sure that the AFRA Archives were able to move to the Maryland State Archives, where now there's people monitoring that site on a daily basis, it's climate control, all of these things. So they've been an incredible support for us over the past three years. And beyond just the space, they have had conservators on their staff who have given us tips on how to care for the collections. They have trained us on some of their equipment that's there. They've helped us scan certain things from the archives. So it's just been such an important kind of stabilizing factor for us to be able to get our hands around the collection, really understand what needed to happen in advance of us ultimately moving to the Upton Mansion, which will happen next year. It's great.
Rob Lee: It's great to have sort of those resources, those connections. And, you know, when you're growing it, or we're trying to further like what that work is, you know, preserving an archive is like if identified an issue, we can't have birds floating around.
Savannah Wood: It's not dead.
Rob Lee: It's done.
Savannah Wood: It's like the exes all die. Either way, it's not great, you know.
Rob Lee: And, you know, you know, having something like that, it's just like damage. It's just like we got to, you know, this is actually putting this at risk. And I know you had some relationship and some issues with the word caretaker or what have you, but it's like, no, you got to be able to take care of these things and having them potentially in in peril.
It's not a good thing. So figuring sort of that out is important. And one of the other things I see on here is further.
It's teaming up with Muse 360 on the New Generation Scholars Young Artist Archival Fellows. That's a lot of words right there, Rob. It's many words. But it was important words. So how do you build sort of alignment or shared purpose when collaborating with partners like Muse 360?
Savannah Wood: When I had first moved back to Baltimore in 2019, I went to a program that Muse 360 was hosting for their new generation scholars. And I was just completely blown away by the quality of the work that the young people had produced by the intense care from Shirena Christmas, who's the founder of Muse 360. And just the scope of work that they were able to do also with limited funding because Black organizations don't get the funding that they need.
I'm just going to say that one more time. And so, you know, I just I just knew that it would be really interesting to see how these young people who were getting so much support from Shirena and the other teaching artists who are part of that program, they would probably love to come to the archives. And she actually reached out to me and said, you know, we used to come to the AFRA Archives when you guys were on North Charles Street. And I'm not really sure who to be in touch with here.
Can we talk? And so one thing just kind of led to another. And we ended up teaming up one year and then said, that worked pretty well. Let's do it again. And, you know, now we're in our third year of working together.
And we don't we're not so, so, so engaged in all of the day to day of stewarding that project. But we do bring all of the young fellows into the archives, give them hands on experience with both research and processing the collections and are, you know, there for their research requests and scanning materials and things of that nature. And then also, we typically show up for their critiques. So they make creative work that are that's partially inspired by our collections, but also other collections as well. And so, you know, we have a team full of artists. And so we're always happy to lend our artistic eye to their work as well. And actually, they have an exhibition coming up shortly. I can't remember what day at the moment.
Rob Lee: No, that's great. And again, I love I love hearing it. I believe Sharon was in an early, early episode of this podcast. So again, and it makes us see in those sort of connections, those like, yeah, yeah, yeah, those people that should be working together.
Savannah Wood: Oh, it's June 26. And it's at the peel.
Rob Lee: So coming up very, very, very soon. Okay. Thank you. So there's sort of one real question left and more of an invitation, if you will. We tease at a couple of times is a big, big, big project. But let's talk a bit about the redevelopment of his the historic upton mansion. Like, let's talk about that. Let's talk about a few of those, those details, anything you'd want to share about sort of process, the thinking that went into it and all that, please.
Savannah Wood: Well, I'm not going to be I'm not going to spoil what I'm going to share at the, at our fundraiser on Saturday, which by the way, if this does air in 24 hours, go to Afrocharities.org slash events Saturday, June 7 12 to three, we're having our second ever fundraiser, which is crazy to say out loud, but it's true. And it's at Tingale restaurant we're honoring Joyce J Scott, who is an all around amazing woman. We're claiming her as Baltimore's wildest woman.
And the fundraiser is called Wildest Dreams after the quote, we are ancestors wildest dreams, which we think Joyce embodies wholly and our organization aims to embody as well. So I'm just going to leave that there. Plug, plug, plug.
Rob Lee: Do you have a shameless plug segment too? You don't hit cheating. I'm here for it.
Savannah Wood: There's also an auction that's happening right now, silent auction that ends at 2 30 PM on June 7th. That is amazing. So that's also linked on our Eventbrite page for the Wildest Dreams fundraiser.
So leaving that there. Anyway, the Upton mansion is a historic building built in 1838. It sits on an acre of land and it's been vacant since 2006. It is on the National Register of Historic Places as a Baltimore City landmark.
It's been named as one of the most endangered historic buildings in Maryland. And in 2020 in February 2020, we won the award, basically the bid to redevelop this property. So we run the we won the right to redevelop it from the city. And it's been since then that we've been, you know, refining the design, getting our team together, refining the design, getting our team together and raising the necessary funding to make this project happen. So we broke ground in February of 2025 on the last day of Black History Month. And the project's going to be open next year. And so basically the goal is to have a play a central repository for the collections, but also a public reading room so people can come in and do research on site. We'll have a digitization lab there so we can do digitization on site.
We will have an archival processing lab so we can continue to work through this gigantic collection that we are caring for. The Afro news team will have offices there. They'll be our anchor tenant. Afro charities will have offices there.
We'll have a gallery on site. It's going to be like a campus essentially. It's a big building.
And then there will be some spaces that are available for rent for other organizations. And so it's a big deal. It's a really big deal. I think it's probably like, you know, it was one of the most exciting projects in Baltimore, according to my biggest cheerleader, who is Cheryl Koshani.
I hope she hears this. So, you know, it's exciting for a lot of different reasons that neighborhood has been disinvested in for so long. Just a block away, two blocks away, the Sellers mansion used to stand on Lafayette Square and that burned down completely. So the fact that this is still standing and that we're able to actually revive it is a really big deal. And it's intense labor to historic restoration. You know, there's like ornamental plaster work that we have to restore. There are original floors that we have to restore. You know, like that takes a lot of money, a lot of skill, and it's very complicated. And in addition to that, we're building an annex at the rear of the building to house the archives and the gallery and etc. So it is a big project. But we're almost there.
Rob Lee: It's great to hear. It's, you know, one of the things I do in a very sort of simple way is when I see any construction, when I see anything that is relevant culturally that really highlights and shows what we have here and there's an investment in it, I get very excited because when I see, oh, they're going to put up some more gentrification grade building. You know, I hate that.
I really don't like that. And I'm at an age now where it's like, man, I remember when that was this and seeing that, you know, something that has history here, like the Upton Mansion is being restored and it's being developed and invested in. And there's care and attention for that. It beautifies and it I think builds out and supports the community. And it's there, something to frankly be proud of, you know, as far as being from here and also to be working on it.
I mean, I'm sure you're like, ah, so many things, but making it happen and, you know, getting towards that finish line as I touched on earlier, I think you're the closer.
Savannah Wood: I think I'll take it. We'll see. You can tell me that next year once we actually, we close on the financing. That's for sure. We close on the property. That's for sure. So the next thing is closing out construction and that'll be next year, closing out on fundraising and then closing out on construction.
But, you know, it's a catalyst also. So we've, there's 3 houses across the street that are being redeveloped as single family homes. And the person who's doing that explicitly said that it was because we are, they chose that site because we're doing the project across the street. So because that's happening, it said this is going to be an attractive place to be.
We want to redevelop these houses in particular, this block in particular. And so hopefully there's more of that and it can just like radiate out. There's already so much great work happening in the area with a lot of different organizations. I love to shout out Parity Homes, for instance, Bre Jones, Black Women Build, Shelley Halstead, Uptown Planning Committee. There's so much great work that's happening in Greater West Baltimore. And so we're just happy to be a part of it and to see that our labor is already producing results that are positive nearby.
Rob Lee: I love hearing about this impact. I love hearing about these good things. So we got, we got that. We got that. So now with all of the goodwill, all of the powerful important details have been discussed now to get into the weird rapid fire questions before we close out here. So I got three of them for you. And the first one goes a little bit like this. It's like the Hay-It-Hay-It-Go, which is so dated, but I'm all due.
Savannah Wood: It's fine.
Rob Lee: I'm 40 now. I'm not as old as you, but okay. So let me set the scenario. You've got a really intimidating or important nerve-wracking meeting that's coming up. What would be your like, get hype, get the energy right sort of song?
Savannah Wood: I don't really get intimidated by meetings anymore. I don't. But oh God, it depends on the day. You know what I love though is to sing a long to song that you can like belt out.
And I always go back to Mariah Carey, emancipation of Mimi, the whole album, no skips. Okay. That's also an energy mover. You know. I like it. Here's the next one.
Rob Lee: Let's see. What's a small habit or ritual that you engage in during a busy week? I know that here in my studio, I have candles when I'm like, I got too many things going.
I got to have these candles going. I got to just for whatever reason purify the space. And I feel like it's a nice reset, especially when it's super busy and they got too many things going on. For you, what's the habit or ritual you engage in as sort of a reset? I lay on the floor
Savannah Wood: and just find it to be really grounding and take a few deep breaths. And then I did that before we got on this call because it's been nonstop today. And I laid down and I was like, oh, it's time to hop back up.
Rob Lee: Like it's time to get on this podcast of this. No, no one said that. Actually, I this is the thing when I lay down on the floor, it's in the studio, right? And it's one of those things is like, you've had a really busy week. I just found myself sleeping in the studio. I wake up, I'm like, yo, is that pizza crust? What was I doing? I'm a raccoon person. It's more of a not grounding for me as much as like you're reverting.
Savannah Wood: No, I'm just like, I just need to touch the ground and be flat for a minute. And then I can get back to it.
Rob Lee: Here's the last one I have for you. So I'm curious, you know, this is definitely foreshadowing because I see it happening. And you know, I don't want any overthinking quick answers here. What would the title of your autobiography be? Because it's coming soon.
Savannah Wood: Thanks, God. Got out to the ancestor. One of those. Yeah, something like that.
Rob Lee: I like it. They can both be part of the title. I feel like this just there. I feel like it's just like low hanging for the story of Savannah Wood.
Savannah Wood: So that's kind of it. That's it. That's the real question. That's the rapper fire questions. And in these last moments, I would like to, one, thank you for coming back on. It's always a treat to chat with you and reconnect. And, you know, when I'm talking to my bespectacled people, your side, I'm a little like, all right. But when talking to both my parents, the saddest, so. Okay, yes, embrace. We hear. We hear. I love my parents. Also, I got the heat of you keeping me on point.
Savannah Wood: You sound like it initially, but okay.
Rob Lee: I'm an Aquarius and we're quiet. Anyway, so thank you for coming back on. And two, I want to give you that one more time to shamelessly plug social media website, all of that good stuff. Let the folks know where to check out everything going on in your universe. Awesome.
Savannah Wood: Yeah, follow Afro Charities on Instagram and LinkedIn. Primarily, we're adults over here. We are on LinkedIn. We do technically have a TikTok, but at Afro Charities everywhere. And then my public Instagram is Savannah in public. There's that. And then what else? I'm working on a short film that I'm kind of finished everything by next year. So I'm trying to be the closer for all of these crazy projects by next year.
So building, build out of the organization, film out in the world, all in 2026. Pray for me. You got that?
That's what I got. Oh, and buy a ticket to the fundraiser or bid. Afrocharities.org slash events are just search wildest dreams, Afrocharities, and the event bright will likely pop up.
Rob Lee: And there you have it folks. I want to again thank Savannah Woods for coming back onto the podcast and catching up with me. And for Savannah, I am Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture, and community in and around your neck of the woods. You just have to look for it.
