I celebrate myself;

--"Song of Myself," Walt Whitman

In the heart of Camden is a busy arts center that will purposefully not celebrate Black History Month this February. Ozzie Jones, Walt Whitman Arts Center's artistic director, is making a deliberate statement not to put black performers on the main stage. Instead, the arts venue will host a one-(white) man play depicting the life of Walt Whitman, a "cartoon-driven" arts exhibit from an Asian-American artist and a Swiss bluegrass band.

"I don't agree with the whole notion of looking at American history as something separate for black people," says Jones. "When black people allow it to happen, they let America off the hook." The 35-year-old Barrymore winner thinks that black history should be seen as an essential part of American history. And the contribution to the arts by African-Americans should be celebrated throughout the year, not just during one month. (Jones also believes this about Women's History Month, but programming beyond his control won't let him make the same statement in March.)

So in Jones' three-year tenure guiding the artistic mission of WWAC, the West Philly native has made February a special month in his own way. Though the WWAC does not restrict its performers on the basis of race for the rest of the year, Jones and the WWAC's leaders strive to tailor the programming to the nearby community, which is more than 50 percent African-American.

The major events planned are widely diverse. On Feb. 10, for the first time at the namesake's venue, Stephen Collins will channel Walt Whitman in a monologue called Unlaunch'd Voices, An Evening With Walt Whitman. It's based on Whitman's poetry and the book Walt Whitman in Camden, a collection of conversations with Whitman written by his neighbor, Horace Traubel. The Kruger Brothers, whose three members play banjo, guitar and bass, will perform American bluegrass-folk music on Feb. 18. Throughout the month, Sung Park will publicly display his oeuvre for the first time in the gallery space on the second floor. Park is a local visual artist Jones discovered while hanging out late nights at Fado Irish Pub. Jones looked at the work of the self-taught artist and was blown away by the comic books and sketches Park showed him.

The center itself is an unexpected cultural mecca in a poverty-stricken city. Driving down Camden's busy boulevard, Cooper Street, visitors get a sense they're entering a nostalgic Americana idyll when instead, they're trespassing through one of the most dangerous cities in America. Just before you hit the waterfront, decked out with tourist destinations like the Adventure Aquarium, Campbell's Field and Battleship New Jersey, you'll spot a pristine white neoclassical building with proud, iconic columns sitting on a patch of green, behind a large fountain under construction, set far from traffic—another incongruent sight on the Camden landscape. Built as a library in 1916, the grand limestone structure that became the Walt Whitman Arts Center is marked by an 11-foot bronze replica of the Peter Pan statue that stands in Kensington Gardens in London. In the spring of 1972, the Leaves of Grass Coffeehouse opened in the building's basement. The coffeehouse also sponsored lunchtime poetry readings in the park in front. In 1974, the library was shut down. The next year, the poetry forum took over the entire building, and the Cooper Branch Free Library became the Walt Whitman International Poetry Center. In 1991, it was renamed the Walt Whitman Arts Center to widen its focus from specifically poetry.

Walt Whitman worked on the later editions of Leaves of Grass in Camden, and the row home of the poet many believe was homosexual is not too far from the center. In the poem, he celebrates his love of self and freedom of spirit, and he's recognized as one of the greatest American poets. Where would American culture be if Walt Whitman was only taught in gay literature classes? Jones adds, "Whitman's work has a broad, inclusive aesthetic but he's been claimed by the political machine." Perhaps Jones has a point about Black History Month.

Sung Park exhibit, through Feb. 28, free; Unlauch'd Voices, An Evening With Walt Whitman, Fri., Feb. 10, 8 p.m., $10; Kruger Brothers, Sat., Feb. 18, 8 p.m., $15-$20, Walt Whitman Arts Center, Second and Cooper sts., Camden, N.J., 856-964-8300, www.waltwhitmancenter.org.