The Boston Art Academy building will now be named for Dr. Elma Lewis, city officials heralded Wednesday, celebrating a trailblazing educator and Boston cultural icon.
“(Dr. Lewis) encouraged and demanded us to be the best we could and pushed us to excellence,” said School Committee Chair Jeri Robinson, a former student of the building’s namesake. “She encouraged to be curious, disciplined and to go after our dreams. It’s a surreal moment to stand in front of the school, knowing the letters on this building speak about a past that is familiar to me and a future that is so great for our students.”
Robinson attended a celebration of the renaming at the BAA building along with the mayor, other city officials and members of the school community Wednesday morning. The new upgraded BAA building relocated the school next to Fenway Park and opened for the 2022-23 school year.
Elma Lewis was born in Boston in 1921 and died in 2004, spending much of her life as an educator and advocate.
Among many other accomplishments, she opened the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Roxbury, the Playhouse in the Park in Franklin Park and National Center of Afro-American Artists, said Barry Gauthier, director of the Museum of the NCAAA. She also received over 30 honorary doctorates and worked closely with a huge array artists, including Harry Belafonte and Duke Ellington.
“She made it possible for schools like BAA to exist,” said BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper. “This building carries more than just a name. It’s a legacy — her legacy of grace, of grit and of joy.”
The BAA building is the fourth BPS school building named after a Black woman. Wu said this is a step towards more prominently recognizing the long-undervalued women of color who “have given so much of themselves to save our communities.”
“So today’s celebration to rename the building after Dr. Elma Lewis is an important step not only for this building and the young people who will have the opportunities to share their gifts with the world through their education here, but for the entire city and beyond,” Wu said.
