History

The Chester Fine Arts Center East, Inc is Chester’s oldest center for the fine and performing arts in the city of Chester. The center was established in June of 1976 by its founder Rev. Anzer S. Kirkland. The center first opened its program at the Community Baptist Church and at the residence of Lillie Kirkland-Gillison (the mother of the founder). In 1979 the center was officially incorporated and expanded its program to include a full day Saturday program at the Central YMCA in the heart of Chester. This program included drama, dance, vocal and instrumental music. At this time the center was privileged to have on staff Mr. John “Jakari” Thomas (a professional dancer & the center’s Artistic Director and Director of Dance), Mr. Eric Jackson (drama instructor & director of African Heritage & Cultural Awareness programs), Ms. Elberta Mathis (local playwright and drama coach), Ms. Karen Stills (Dance Instructor from Philadanco), and Mr. Anzer S. Kirkland (Founder/Executive Director and director of Music). The center also had the honor of having the world renowned founder of the Freedom Theatre of Philadelphia Mr. John Allen to come and do our first full Saturday theatre workshop for us. Mr. Allen became a very important part of the center’s development, offering his experience and assistance wherever needed.

With the financial assistance of Lillie Kirkland and the center’s founder, the center acquired its own facility and immediately started renovations of the old Community Baptist Church at 10 th & Upland Streets of Chester. This was to be the start of an exciting future for the center, but hours before its opening the center was robbed and destroyed by vandals. With the assistance of the new pastor Rev. Wm. B. Starks, we continued our programs at the offices of the Community Baptist Church (new facility). We also received assistance from the late Rev. Levi B. Baldwin, who, for approximately 10 years of our program growth, did an annual revival to strengthen our program spiritually as well as financially. No matter where he was in the country he would always come back and do this revival. Later the center renovated and occupied a historic restaurant/country club located at 31 East 5 th Street. The center remained there for approximately 7 years before finding its final home at the old Chester Art Guild Building located at 17-19 East 7 th Street. This was truly a milestone in the center’s history and that of the Art Guild. The founder and director the late Dr. Dorothy Chako was a personal friend and an inspiration to the Fine Arts Center. We had the honor of having many collaborative efforts with Dr. Chako and we know that she would be pleased to see the fruits of her labor continue in such a manner. The Fine Arts Center and the Chester Art Guild formed an alliance that resulted in what we have today, Chester’s oldest and most outstanding center for the fine and performing arts, The Chester Fine Arts Center East

Text Box: Chester’s oldest and most outstanding center for the fine and performing arts...

To contact us:

Phone: 610-874-7434

Fax: 610-874-3341

Email: arts@cface.org

32 years and running strong!