Brandywine Workshop and Archives hires Michele Parchment to fill the shoes of founder and retired executive director Allan L. Edmunds

Allan L. Edmunds was just 22 years old when he and other artists and printmakers founded Brandywine Workshop and Archives on Brandywine Street in Spring Garden.

That was 51 years ago. Since those early days on Brandywine Street, the BWA has moved to new headquarters on the Avenue of the Arts at 730 S. Broad St.

Edmunds, now 73, officially stepped down as executive director last October at the 50th anniversary gala for the workshop. However, the West Philadelphia-born artist has remained on board in an advisory role until a new executive director could be found.

This month, the BWA board announced that it has found its new executive director: Michele Parchment, who will start her new role on Aug. 21.

Parchment comes to Philadelphia from her most recent position as consultant / registrar for Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) in Miami.

“Her education and training, varied professional experiences and personal networks, along with her passion for diverse contemporary arts extends globally,” BWA said in a statement announcing her hire.

In addition to her work in Miami, Parchment has served in various administrative roles at a number of arts institutions, including the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit; the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, N.C., and the Sarasota Art Museum in Sarasota, Fla.

“I’m very happy with the new executive director,” Edmunds said in an interview. “I was excited [about her]. She has an interest in education, and in her previous jobs, many of the institutions were newly founded and she had to come up with programming to get the audience to come back.”

He said he is confident she will come up with new programming for BWA.

Edmunds also said he is excited to be leaving Brandywine Workshop while “it is at its strongest position ever, rather than leaving an organization in distress.”

To that end, Brandywine waited until it named a new executive director to also announce the workshop has received a five-year, $2.5-million grant from the Mellon Foundation to provide “significant operational support and stability for BWA’s core program.”

Edmunds said with its new leader and with the Mellon Foundation grant, the board is calling the next stage for the workshop “Brandywine 2.0.”

“It’s not about developing it [the workshop ] but taking it to the next level,” he said.

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Also in the fall, Brandywine Workshop will host its first-ever El Anatsui African-Based-Artist-in-Residence Program.

Although he is Black, Edmunds said he never wanted the workshop to be viewed as a place for only Black artists.

“My vision, maintained by the board, was that it wouldn’t be exclusively Black, but we would embrace all people. We had shows engaging all artists of color, Black, Asian, Latino, Native American — and white artists also.”

In fact, when the workshop began in the then-heavily Latino Spring Garden neighborhood, the first artists who came there were primarily Black and Puerto Rican, and Puerto Rican artists were in the majority.

“When it was founded in 1972, there were no opportunities for artists of color. You could teach in the School District of Philadelphia. But when we started, there was a lack of opportunities for advanced training, a lack of community where artists who were striving could meet other artists and build community.”