MLK DAY 2024: Yesterdays – Todays – and Tomorrows

MLK DAY 2024: Yesterdays – Todays – and Tomorrows

Join us for our annual event celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr! MLK DAY 2024: Yesterdays, Todays, and Tomorrows, explores the ways that history, leadership, and creativity influence our present day, futures, and beyond. From folklore, to music, and conversations rooted in afro-futurism, we honor the many ways in which Dr. King’s legacy has influenced culture through time.

Registration is not required but recommended. RSVP Here.

Art Making Activity: Folklore and Shadow Figures
11AM-3PM

Create your own shadow figures inspired by the silhouettes featured in Candace Hunter: The Alien-Nations and Sovereign States of Octavia E Butler, and the characters found in traditional Black folklore. Participants will also have the opportunity to create their own folklore, and perform using their cut-outs in a shadow puppet show. Participants will have the option to create and perform their own stories as well.

Folklore Storytime
11:30AM -12PM & 1:30 – 2PM

Join us in the Kanter Family Foundation Gallery and hear stories from the children’s books, Anansi and The Spider and Why Do Mosquitoes Buzz In People’s Ears? and more!

Art Making Activity: Found Object Printmaking
11AM-3PM

Bottles, sponges, cardboard, and other recyclables are perfect for creating vivid textures and awesome abstract designs! Explore printmaking by creating unique prints using these common household items. No need to bring materials, we will have some here for you! Our Open Studio Art Making Activities are inspired by the “Everyday Art” practice of Robert Earl Paige. Learn these techniques using everyday tools to expand your art practice and explore at home.

Semicolon Bookstore Pop-Up Shop
11AM – 3PM

Check out an Afrofuturism and Science-Fiction pop up book shop curated by local Black woman owned bookstore, Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery in honor of our exhibition, Candace Hunter: The Alien-Nations and Sovereign States of Octavia E Butler.

Semicolon Bookstore is a Black-woman owned bookshop and gallery located in Chicago’s River North area. Founded in 2019, we are booksellers dedicated to bridging the literacy gap among minoritized communities by providing access TO and building interest IN books. We focus on the community aspect of bookselling by putting on author events, as well as hosting our #ClearTheShelves programming, where we allow CPS students to take the books that they want free of charge in an attempt to incite a love for reading via the celebration of books!

The Future is Breath: An Artist Talk on Afrofuturism and Speculative Fiction
12-1:30PM

Join us for a conversation about the work of The Alien-Nations and Sovereign States of Octavia E Butler, exhibition artist, Candace Hunter and the legacy of Black science fiction writer, Octavia Butler. The conversation will be moderated by scholar, Kimberly M. Harmon.

The conversation will focus on the shared sense of world-building within Octavia’s literary work and Hunter’s installation. We will also discuss the legacy and impact of Butler, and Afro-futurism verses Speculative Fiction as a literary genre.

The title of the program, “The Future is Breath,” addresses the current conversations surrounding the Black Lives Matter Movement while highlighting conceptual ideas relating to the future of Black people and their evolution in lieu of the grief surrounding Black death.

Civic Orchestra of Chicago Chamber Ensemble performing music by Black Composers
2-2:45PM

Members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago will present a performance honoring the legacy Black American composers, and music from Jessie Montgomery, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s current Composer-in-Residence.

About the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Chamber Ensemble

Founded in 1919 by Frederick Stock, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago prepares young professional musicians for lives in music. Civic members participate in rigorous orchestral training, September through June each season, led by Principal Conductor Ken-David Masur, musicians of the CSO, and some of today’s most luminary conductors including CSO Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti. The Orchestra also performs free concerts in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center and in communities across Greater Chicago.