Keep the Dream Alive.
Black arts. Shared history. A future shaped together.
Founded by African American educators in 1976, World Arts Foundation, Inc. connects arts, education, and community life in Portland’s Albina district. We celebrate Black cultural contributions, preserve community stories, and bring generations together to carry Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior’s vision into action.
Keep the Dream Alive
Our annual tribute to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior brings artists, musicians, young people, and community leaders together through performance, storytelling, and recognition of service. It connects Black creative expression with King’s call for justice, nonviolence, and responsibility to one another.
Arts and education, rooted in Albina.
WAFI began in 1976 with African American teachers who wanted students and neighbors to understand Black history and express themselves through the arts. Community participation was central from the start. That work grew into choirs, orchestras, youth programs, oral histories, and public celebrations.
Our legacy includes founding the Cultural Recreation Band in 1983 for Portland middle and high school musicians and producing the 1985 documentary Black Families and the Railroad in Oregon. These projects connect artistic practice with the people and histories that shape Oregon.
Invest in the next chapter.
Support for WAFI helps carry Black cultural heritage forward through arts, education, and community gathering. We welcome conversations with foundations, donors, educators, and cultural partners about program funding, event sponsorship, and preserving and sharing Albina’s history.
Black creativity. Living community.
In 2026, WAFI marks 50 years of connecting Black arts, education, and community life. That legacy continues through public celebrations, cultural preservation, and the people who carry this work forward.
In 2024, WAFI co-founder Ken Berry contributed hundreds of items from his personal collection to the Albina Community Archive, launched by Albina Music Trust. His contribution helps make generations of Black Portland’s creative life available to new audiences.
“…being able to take 50 years of collection of information and begin to start passing it on.”
— Ken Berry, WAFI co-founder, on sharing his collection. Hear his story on OPB →
Leadership for the next generation.
WAFI’s team brings organizational leadership, live production, and arts education together to carry a 50-year legacy into its next chapter.
Gwen Thompson
President and CEO
Valerie Yvette Peterson
Executive Producer, Keep the Dream Alive tribute
Alicia Thompson
Director of Arts Education and Strategic Planning
An actress, writer, and educator with more than two decades of arts education experience, Alicia has worked in over 100 New York City public schools. She brings experience in curriculum, teaching artist development, and community partnerships, with a master’s in education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Board leadership
Michael Jones, Chair of the Board
Curtis Young, Board Member and Treasurer
Grace Stratton, Board Member
The Emeralds and Imperials youth groups, Albina, 1968. Portland City Archives, AP/67369.
Guitar portrait. Photograph by Joecalih.
Albina Music Trust.
Cultural Recreation Band and American Music Program.
Community stage performance honoring Martin Luther King Jr.