YMI Cultural Center

Mission: To empower the Black community to celebrate its rich cultural heritage through programs that preserve and promote African American arts and traditions with a commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

The YMI Cultural Center is a nonprofit organization in Asheville working to promote interculturalism and the preservation of cultural identity. One of the nation’s oldest historically African American institutions, the YMI Cultural Center strives to elevate Black communities through cultural, economic, and leadership development activities.

The YMI Cultural Center serves as a location for events, exhibitions, meetings, and several local businesses. The Center manages programs in community education, leadership, cultural arts, and economic development, and hosts exhibitions of art and artifacts to preserve the heritage of African Americans in Buncombe County. The YMI Cultural Center also sponsors the Goombay Festival, an annual celebration of African and Carribean culture in western North Carolina featuring an array of music and dance acts, an ethnic craft market, and a variety of foods.