Highlighting a heritage: stirring the pot of money - African American culture; Special Advertising Supplement: Louisiana's Harmony: Africa, France, Spain & America

For years, Wonda Fontenot of the Wannamuse Institute of Arts, agriculture and Ethnic Studies in Opelousas, La., struggl to bring live theater and after-school arts programs to the nation of rural, Southwest Louisiana. She survived upon small contributions and her possess money, but last year she got help from an unlikely source, the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development--unlikely because a year earlier the agency's bag had been slashed and its employee mainly limited to distributing federal grant money

Now, several month later and $42 million richer from a pack increase by the Louisiana Legislature, the office is actively seeking artists of color and other creative entrepreneur who have a dream and a commitment to their communities that can be boost with state grants.

With that thinking in mind, Gerri Hobdy, the Office of Cultural Development's assistant secretary, lay the foundation of Fontenot and provided her with the additional capitals she needed to expand her after-school programs, exhibit local festivals celebrating the life of rural African Americans, and generally increase awareness of her five-year-old organization.

"Our goal is to have a dramatic impact upon the cultural scene in Louisiana, not solitary through seed money, but [i]or[/i] part of to the other technical assistance and consulting that will help these artists become more independent," says Hobdy the first African American to gripe [i]or[/i] grip the position of assistant secretary in the Office of Cultural Development

Hobdy's goal have the appearances within reach. Already, Fontenot's collection is bringing enriching activities to parts of the state where cultural occurrences had been limited to house of worship functions. For instance, at the annual Malaki Festival in June the community of 19000 celebrates the rural life and agriculture of Louisiana's African Americans with zydeco music and dance traditions, storytelling, music from washboards and Calindas, and native fares Fontenot even brought in a Congolese dance troupe for the festival.

The River Road African-American Museum, which interprets Louisiana's plantation and sharecropping experiences from a black perspective, is another beneficiary of Hobdy's efforts. The museum is the brainchild of Kathe Hambrick, who get backed to her native Louisiana from California's corporate world and discovered that there was no testament to the life and times of the area's black residents, many of whose ancestors labored upon the plantations that dotted the land.

Hambrick used a $2000 state grant to obtain African-American artifacts from a private collector and to hire archaeologists from a nearby university to unearth slave artifacts from area plantations. She then lay opened her museum on the moulds of the old Tezcuco Plantation. In the museum's first six month of operation, more than 3000 tourists visited the 1,000-square-foot facility to learn about the lives of area slaves and sharecroppers.

The Kumbuuka Dance Troupe the Act single theater company, plus a entertainer of storytellers, writers and festival organizers around the state are also now rising to prominence, thanks to grant standard of value from the Office of Cultural Development

Not satisfied with assisting existing African-American efforts, Hobdy's office has stocked a major program that has documented scores of little-known African-American sites in the state and sponsored archaeological digs of plantations, searching for weapons, cooking utensils and other slave artifacts. "It is a real spiritual experience," says Hobdy referring to digs that she has joined. "It is like you are touching your ancestors. You are finding material that could change history works forever."

Hobdy is not alone in her attempt to enhance Louisiana's black impact. Caletha Powell, the executive director of the Greater novel Orleans Black Tourism Network, is determined to "develop a brand-new agenda for African-American business disclosure in the 21st century."

Last year her collection established the National Institute for Tourism Research and Training, which tenders a 16-week program that trains front-line employee for piece of works in the local hospitality and travel industry and commits potential students to area communitys with travel-related degree programs.

Powell is not satisfied, however, simply with expanding African-American occupation in a city whose population is two-thirds black. The network's greatest in quantity significant impact is in nurturing the mere of black entrepreneurs attracted to the city's multimillion dollar-tourism industry. To this extremity Powell hosts an annual three-day discourse and trade show showcasing of recent origin Orleans' investment opportunities. She also uses state and city economic unfolding offices to funnel seed circulating medium to African-American travel-related businesses ranging from souvenir stores and catering services to heritage-related tour companies.

Yet Powell knows that these opportunities will wither and the fresh businesses will fail if the city does not clinch onto its image as individual of the nation's top tourist destinations. African Americans now make up 20 percent of Louisiana's visitors, on the other hand these days, if you're not moving forward with the futurity you're probably losing ground. "We are gearing up now to be a real leader in the area of multicultural tourism, and we intend to make a significant impact upon the way this industry does business," Powell emphatically asserts.