NISC Programs of Excellence 

• Year Awarded: 2026
• Programs of Excellence Name: Parables of the Future: Black Future Fest—Celebrating Afrotourism
• Hosting Organization: Iowa Senior Center—City of Iowa City

About Parables of the Future

Parables of the Future: Black Future Fest was the first of its kind, month-long civic cultural series produced by the Iowa City Senior Center centered on Afrofuturist imagination, intergenerational belonging, and the radical idea that aging spaces can be sites of creative innovation. The 2026 series ran Jan. 19 through Feb. 19, honoring the 100th year of Black History Month and activating the center's historic downtown building as a contemporary cultural venue.

"The festival emerged from a real problem: senior centers are often perceived as places people go to, not places communities gather around," said Iowa City Senior Center Coordinator Latasha Deloach. "In Iowa City—a UNESCO City of Literature and a Big Ten college town—we saw an opportunity to position the senior center differently: not as a service location, but as a civic anchor for the community's most urgent conversations about belonging, legacy, and the future."

Over seven events, the series brought together a mural workshop on MLK Day of Service, two Octavia Butler Book Club sessions, a public Afrofuturism Open House, a sold-out short film screening and director talkback at FilmScene, an Octavia Butler panel at the Iowa City Public Library, a gallery opening and Afrofuturist Fashion Show, and a community panel discussion "Beyond Divides: Building Bridges in Iowa City's Black Community."

Every ticketed event sold out. Participation spanned ages 1 through 80+. Partners included FilmScene, Iowa City Public Library, The Center for Afrofuturist Studies, Public Space One, Porchlight, Dream City, Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, United Action for Youth, and the Iowa City Fridge.

"The model is replicable by design," Deloach said. "It requires civic will, arts partnerships, and a building willing to hold more than it was built for. Senior centers already have the infrastructure—the rooms, the legitimacy, the community trust.

"We didn't expand on what the senior center does," Deloach said. "We expanded what people believe a senior center can be."

Key takeaways from Parables of the Future:

• The program tranformed a senior center into a civic anchor for conversations about belonging, legacy, and the future.
• As with many exceptional programs, partners were key to success.
• Black Future Fest offers a framework for what becomes possible when you pair a senior center's infrastructure with cultural imagination.

About Iowa Senior Center—City of Iowa City

The Iowa Senior Center in downtown Iowa City is open to anyone 50+ and offers a range of programs, services, and facilities, including a fitness center. In addition to the downtown location, senior center programs are offered at various locations throughout Johnson County as well as virtually.