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HJR 161

Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center, 20th Anniversary, celebrated

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Kelvin Lawrence

Commends the Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center for 20 years of promoting arts, education, and economic revitalization in Alabama’s Black Belt.

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Bill Summary · HJR 161

Summary — HJR 161: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center

Bill at a glance

  • Bill number: HJR 161 (House Joint Resolution)
  • Title: Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center, 20th Anniversary, celebrated
  • Classification: Resolution (ceremonial)
  • Introduced: March 3, 2025 (Rep. Lawrence)
  • Enacted: April 15, 2025
  • Companion: SJR 37

Purpose and intent

HJR 161 is a ceremonial, joint legislative resolution commending and celebrating the Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. The resolution recognizes the center’s cultural, educational, and economic contributions to Alabama’s Black Belt region.

Key provisions / content

  • Formally commends the Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center for 20 years of service (established February 2005).
  • Recites factual highlights about the center’s mission and history, including its origins as a collaborative tourism initiative involving the Alabama-Tombigbee Regional Commission, Ala-Tom Resource Conservation and Development Council, and The University of Alabama Center for Economic Development.
  • Notes the center’s role in promoting fine arts and heritage crafts, providing arts education, and fostering an arts-driven economic revitalization in the Black Belt.
  • Recognizes programmatic impacts: representation of more than 580 artists; collective sales exceeding $2.27 million; and an average of about 13,000 gallery visitors annually.
  • Acknowledges staff achievements (national conference presentations, publications, awards) and ongoing community engagement (artist demonstrations, workshops, school and civic partnerships).

Who is affected

  • Primary subject: Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center (Camden, AL), its staff, volunteers, and affiliated artists.
  • Secondary beneficiaries: local communities and visitors to Alabama’s Black Belt (symbolic recognition intended to support tourism, arts promotion, and community pride).
  • No regulatory, fiscal, or programmatic changes are made to state law or funding.

Legal effect and impact

  • This joint resolution is honorary and declaratory in nature; it does not appropriate funds or create new legal obligations. Its main impacts are symbolic—increasing public recognition, potentially aiding outreach, fundraising, and tourism promotion.

Procedural timeline (selected)

  • Filed: March 3, 2025
  • First read: March 20, 2025
  • Referred to Elections (3/26/25) and later to House Rules; reported out and passed by the House (early April 2025).
  • Received in Senate and referred to Senate Rules (4/3/25); reported and adopted in the Senate.
  • Delivered to Governor: April 10, 2025; Enrolled: April 10, 2025; Enacted: April 15, 2025.
  • Committee and floor steps included public hearing (4/24/25), committee approval, placement on calendar, and final adoption.

Bottom line

HJR 161 is a formal, non-binding expression of the Alabama Legislature’s commendation for the Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center on its 20th anniversary, documenting the center’s contributions to arts, culture, education, and regional economic activity in the Black Belt.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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