Honoring a King

The Bruce Museum celebrates the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Community Curation Family Day Jan. 15.

This year, Martin Luther King Day falls on his actual birthday, Jan. 15. In celebration of his life, the Bruce Museum is hosting Community Curation Family Day on Monday, Jan. 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Recommended for families with children under age 10, this special school-holiday program will feature art projects and live performances that help put King’s legacy and teachings in perspective.

Visitors can create a piece of artwork inspired by King’s values of compassion, love, courage, forgiveness and community and hang it on the museum’s walls among other visitors’ works of art, then write an artist statement to explain their art’s meaning. Children can also contribute to a community sculpture by using paper of different types, shapes, sizes and colors and then weaving yarn through a yarn wall to show the different ways that we are all connected.

At 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., singer/songwriter Cyd Slotoroff from Arts for Learning Connecticut will lead an interactive performance for children to listen, move, sing and collaborate on songs about friendship, fairness, problem-solving and respecting others. Seating is limited, so please arrive early to ensure space for your children.

Families are encouraged to give back on MLK Day by contributing a canned food item to the Bruce’s community food drive with Neighbor to Neighbor, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving residents in need throughout the Greenwich area. Staples like oatmeal, canned fruit and dried beans are most needed.

Admission to the Bruce Museum is free January 9 through 19, while the Museum’s Arcade and Love galleries are closed for installation.

Speaking of MLK, you’ll want to save a date for what is sure to be a blockbuster show at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassinations of King and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, the Society presents an exhibition of photographs and artifacts honoring these visionary leaders who irrevocably changed the United States. On view Feb. 16 through May 20, 2018, “Rebel Spirits: Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.” showcases approximately 60 photographs and 30 documents and artifacts that uncover the relationship between these historic figures.

Here’s what the Society has to say about the show and these two men:

“(They) were born worlds apart – culturally, geographically, racially, financially and politically – but by the time they were killed within months of each another in 1968, their worlds had come together. As their respective concerns expanded beyond civil rights and organized crime, their ties deepened to encompass shared interests in supporting the poor and opposing the war in Vietnam. This unprecedented exhibition explores the overlapping paths of their lives through images taken by some of the most renowned photojournalists of the era, including Bob Adelman, Danny Lyon, Henri Dauman, Jacques Lowe, Spider Martin, Steve Schapiro, Lawrence Schiller, and Paul Schutzer, alongside original correspondence, publications, and ephemera.”

For more on the Bruce Museum event, sponsored by Whole Foods of Greenwich, visit brucemuseum.org. And for more on the New-York Historical Society exhibit, visit nyhistory.org.

Edited by Georgette Gouveia

Written By
More from Staff
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Botanical celebrates Monet’s floral works By Georgette Gouveia He was, of course,...
Read More
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *