On April 4, 1968, the hope and fire of a people seemed to extinguish as tragic news of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination spread throughout the airwaves. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott of December 1955, Dr. King emerged as a key leader in the struggle for civil rights for the disenfranchised. His charismatic personality and unwavering determination to see that all people were treated equally made him a symbol of leadership and civil rights activism.
The year 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. As an acknowledgment of his legacy and his importance to American culture, The Amistad Center for Art & Culture will present Martin Luther King Jr.: Life, Times, and Legacy. This exhibition reflects on Dr. King’s quest for freedom and equality, and asks if what he called “a sense of brotherhood among nations” exists today. Martin Luther King, Jr. displays imagery from the civil rights era and includes work by contemporary artists who examine themes of race and injustice in America.
Artists Elizabeth Catlett, Jeff Donaldson, David Driskell, Terrence Hammonds, Wadsworth Jarrell, Gordon Parks, Alexis Peskine, Sheila Pree-Bright, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Moneta Sleet, Travis Somerville, and others are represented in the exhibition. Funders
This exhibition is generously sponsored by the New Alliance Foundation with additional support from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.
Related Events
Join Gayle Pemberton, Chair of the African American Studies Program and Professor of African American Studies, English, and American Studies at Wesleyan University on Thursday, January 3, at 6:00 p.m. during Phoenix Art After Hours: First Thursdays at the Atheneum.
Rehema Barber, Curatorial Associate for the Amistad Center For Art & Culture, gives a gallery talk in the exhibition on Friday, January 25, at noon.
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