Music and art represent the talents of many people and cultures.  The Dymally International Jazz & Arts Festival will showcase a wide range of global music and artistic works.  Representing global music, performed on two stages, will be Gerald Albright, Nestor Torres, Moonchild, Rocky Dawuni, Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca, Parlor Social, Lira, Maxi Priest and Kem.   Representing the literary art form, will be Poets B.A. Williams and bridgette bianca. Visual art, curated by Pamela Bright-Moon, will include artists Sam Pace, Kenny Gatewood, Michael Massenburg, Allyson Allen and Patrick Henry Johnson.  Art will be available for sale and auction with a portion of the proceeds going to the Cal State Dominguez Hills Philanthropic Foundation.

The festival is a fundraiser to support the recently opened Mervyn M. Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The institute is the brainchild of its namesake and is a non-partisan public center. 

The purpose of the Institute is to study the history of African American elected officials, business, and community leaders.  The MDAAPEI will work to build institutional memory through oral history projects, and to study and debate the effects of public policy on African Americans and the communities in which they live.