There’s nothing about the structure of our DNA nor the content of our blood that is any different from anyone else’s.

Ashé Cultural Center creates an ever-evolving slate of opportunities for cultural engagement in New Orleans’ most underserved and poorest zip codes.

A large portico with yellow trim covers the sidewalk. On the front, "Ashé" is printed in large red letters, matching the building's red trim. String lights line the building and the glass door reflects a colorful mural.

Ecclesiastes said she is driven by her love for the history, culture, and people of her hometown of New Orleans.

A Black woman stands in a patterned dress, hands folded and looking at the camera. Behind her is a colorful street mural depicting figures from history. 

Caring for the culture also means caring for the people that make it up.

An altar honoring John O’Neal of Free Southern Theater and other ancestors of theater and performing arts.

A photo of a Black man with white beard and short black hair sits on an altar. It is surrounded by smaller photos, candles, other memorabilia, and a large ankh. A large framed graphic leans against the altar and reads "the spirits of the ancestors are with you." Two carved wooden stools and a hand drum sit on the floor around the altar.

At Ashé, artists and culture makers work alongside nurses, nutritionists, and social workers to distribute health and wellness information and ensure health care access for their communities.

A chair with animal print pattern. On the chair back rests a decorative piece featuring feathers, jewels, and ornamentation.

Across Ashé‘s work, supporting art is a means of addressing long-standing racial and socio-economic inequities.

A wooden sculpture depicts figures

Ashé Racial Justice and Healing Initiative

Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Ashé Cultural Arts Center chief equity officer.

Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes

OpenGraph NewOrleansCreativesGettotheHeartoftheMatter

New Orleans Creatives Get to the Heart of the Matter

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 