What started off as a college thesis has blossomed into a movement. Initially, “The Flourish” was a theory created by co-founder Jahman Hill which posited that “Black people are inifinitely possible beings.” Now, The Flourish Alabama is a nonprofit organization dedicated to planting the seeds to help young artists bloom. We create and facilitate “multi-medium” programming and curriculum geared towards helping youth create collaborative art projects, facilitate art workshops for artists of all ages, and create and host events that showcase artists of color.

Created by Eric Marable, Jr. and Jahman Hill, The Flourish divides its organization into two wings: outreach and events. The outreach wing focuses on aiding the youth of Birmingham, AL, and surrounding areas. Headed by Jahman Hill, The Flourish’s outreach programs range from in-school programming to one-time workshops. The Flourish has completed projects with a number of schools and organizations, including Birmingham Public Library, Greater Birmingham Arts Education Collaborative, Ramsay High School, and more.

We facilitate an annual city wide spoken word program called “”WORD UP!””‘ where we send teaching artists into the 7 high schools of Birmingham City. During the program students learn slam poetry composition, and performance. This program culminates in a city wide poetry where students are able to win prizes and awards for their hard work and courage.

We facilitate an annual program called “”Cell Phone Cinema”” where students learn from industry professionals during a 12 week program as they learn to write, produce, direct, and act in their own films. This program culminates in an annual event called “”Flourish Fest””; an annual festival that showcases not only the student made films, but all the work done by students during the year.

Due to the flexibility and versatility of our programming, we can match the needs of any classroom; anywhere.