Release Date: January 8,2019
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration for families at Akron Art Museum
The Akron Art Museum will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a free afternoon for families that will include hands-on activities for all ages and guided tours of Jeff Donaldson: Dig and artists of African descent in the museum’s collection galleries. The celebration takes place on Monday, January 21 from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M., and is open to all children and their caregivers.
Akron Art Museum educator Amanda Crowe designed the event for families to connect to Dr. King’s message of hope, family and cultural diversity through a day of art, memory-making and stories. “Our celebration is always a fun day for families to enjoy time together, create art, play family games and explore the ‘superhero’ artists in the museum’s collection,” said Crowe.
Activities are suited for all types of learners and designed for all ages. Families can participate in a story-swap by contributing a memorable family story to a special grid structure to create a tapestry of stories with other families. Hands-on activities also include a create-your-own-message button-making activity, collaborative Pop Art portraits, and the opportunity for families to assemble a time capsule to commemorate important events in their history.
The museum will offer two guided tours, the first at 1:15 P.M., led by Associate Curator Theresa Bembnister, focusing on the exhibition Jeff Donaldson: Dig. Spanning Donaldson’s activist roots in Chicago as a co-founder of AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) to his influence on future generations of artists as a professor at Howard University and vice president of the Barnes Foundation, Jeff Donaldson: Dig presents new scholarship and features works never before publicly presented.
A second tour will be offered at 3:00 P.M., led by Director of Education Alison Caplan, and will feature artists of African descent such as Alma W. Thomas and El Anatsui whose work has been collected by the Akron Art Museum.
Registration is not required for any of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day programs or tours, but all adults participating in the hands-on activities must be accompanied by a child.
Family Days are made possible by the presenting sponsor PNC with additional support from the R.C. Musson and Katharine M. Musson Charitable Foundation and the Robert O. and Annamae Orr Family Foundation.
For more information about Martin Luther King, Jr.Day at the Akron Art Museum, visit the museum at akronartmuseum.org. Join the conversation on social media and follow the museum on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.