Charlique C. Rolle Named New President of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago

Charlique C. Rolle is the President of the African American Arts Alliance. PHOTO BY JOHN R. BOEHM
Charlique C. Rolle is the President of the African American Arts Alliance. PHOTO BY JOHN R. BOEHM

Charlique C. Rolle Named New President of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago

By Tia Carol Jones

Charlique C. Rolle has been named President of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago. She takes over from Jackie Taylor, who was the founding president of the organization.

The African American Arts Alliance of Chicago was founded in 1997 by Jackie Taylor, Ron OJ Parsons, Chuck Smith and Joan Gray as a way to build on the history of the Black Theatre Alliance and expand to serve the needs of Black visual, literary, performing, technical and design arts forms in the city of Chicago.

Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Founder and CEO of Red Clay Dance Company, is the vice president of the Alliance. Currently, Rolle is the Executive Director of Congo Square Theatre Company, where she has been since 2020.

Rolle, a native of the Bahamas, studied theatre and dance, through her childhood to college years. She decided to study theatre and dance, with a minor in business. She moved to Chicago to pursue an arts and arts administration career. She has been in all facets of the arts making process as a director, writer, actor, choreographer.

“It’s been really a core part of who I have been,” Rolle said.

When Rolle came to Chicago, she was on the dance side of the industry. Then, she went to Seminary and as part of her ministry, she spent time to develop more performing and creative arts within ministry, as well as leadership development. She returned to the industry on the theatre side.

Rolle has made it her personal mission to support artists, arts organizations and communities, while thinking about the arts making process as a means of organizing, development and social impact. She has always had a holistic focus of the whole means of artistry, thinking about how the arts making process can build communities and society, while creating the work that supports artists in experiencing freedom, healing and transformation.

Rolle said Congo Square has such a rich history as a Black theatre and one of the very few in Chicago. “So being able to come in and tell our stories authentically and unapologetically; and, to be able to support this historic organization in doing that, from this particular lens of art making,” she said.

Rolle is excited to be named President. She is really honored to be entrusted to carry on the next tier of the legacy of the organization. It is not something she takes lightly. She also is honored to support Black artists, Black organizations and creatives and to continue to build resources, organize creative collective impact and to continue to celebrate Black stories. She wants to ensure that Black arts organizations and artists remain viable, while building more resources and more space for new voices that are coming in.

“The big vision is that we are continuing to build a legacy of excellence, where honoring the past and founders and the foundations that have been laid for us in order to even be able to exist, but also to build what the continued legacy will be for Black artists and Black organizations,” she said.

Rolle wants to see the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago become a cultural hub for Black artists and Black arts organizations will feel they have the support and advocacy necessary to build thriving careers. To grow, professionally, structurally and organizationally, because they have resources to do so. The goal is to build infrastructure that can expand and catapult the capacity for Black artists and Black arts organizations to tell their stories and do the work and continue to be celebrated.

Rolle wants to bring more people and organizations into the Alliance and incubate more so there can be more built out of it.

“One of the biggest things that makes this work necessary is far too often, our Black artists and Black arts organizations are pitted against each other as though there is not enough space for us … when we are having to create in the vein of systems that aren’t built by, for or with us in mind, it makes it that much more difficult for us to thrive,” Rolle said. “We want to see what it means for the Black arts to be thriving, in every aspect, and not just thriving, but celebrating each other. There’s more than enough resources for all of us.”

In October, the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago will celebrate Black Arts Month. For more information about the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago and its Black Arts Month programming, visit www.aaaachicago.org.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.