Woman raising funds to open African Art Museum

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - A local woman is raising funds to open a new African art museum and cultural center in Idaho Falls.

Delphia Bradley says she wants to use art to tell the story of African people. She originally moved to Idaho from Seattle and says she noticed very little African-American representation or opportunities for Idahoans to learn about African culture in the area. She wants to highlight African culture as "one people, undivided."

The museum and cultural center, 'I Am,' will feature several forms of African art — from fashion to food to music.

“Everybody learns differently, right? We get the readers. They like to read the books of history, but then you have the people who are visual [learners] and they can, you know, look at something and they take it all in. That gives them different perspective. It gives them a different...paradigm shift. That's what we want to do with art,” Bradley said.

Bradley says she hopes the museum and cultural center will open in 2025, possibly in the fall.

More information about the Idaho African art museum project can be found here.