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Can art save the soul of the Central Area?

caption: The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute is shown on Wednesday, January 3, 2018, in Seattle.
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The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute is shown on Wednesday, January 3, 2018, in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

The Central Area is the historic heart of Seattle's African-American community.

But many longtime residents have moved away from the neighborhood they once called home.

Some activists say art is the best tool to re-assert the area's African American heritage, and they've doubled down efforts to make that happen.

Marcie Sillman spoke with arts advocate and former Seattle Arts Commission and KUOW board member Vivian Phillips, artist and educator Dani Tirrell, and Tim Lennon, the new director of LANGSTON, a nonprofit charged with "elevating black brilliance" through programming at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.

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