The non-profit organization, The Ensemble Theatre, has a mission of preserving African-American artistic expression by collaborating and presenting works by artists such as Pearl Cleage and Shay Youngblood.
The Ensemble Theatre is a non-profit organization founded by George Hawkins in 1976 as a touring company that rehearsed in a church basement. The Ensemble's mission is to preserve African-American artistic expression. To do so, it collaborates with and presents works by artists such as Joseph A. Walker, Pearl Cleage, Cheryl L. West and Shay Youngblood. 
