Students Create Mural "In Their Words" and Honor Black History Month

The info in this article comes from a Delaware Art Museum press release...
In honor of Black History Month, the Delaware Art Museum unveiled an Aaron Douglas-inspired mural created by local high school students. The February 4 unveiling ceremony included a short presentation during which the participating students and the project leader -- arts educator/artist Chad Cortez Everett -- spoke about the process.

The mural is part of the Museum's Mural Arts Interpretation Project, a student-art initiative created last fall with the goal of exposing under-served students -- who have not taken part in an art class or had access to art education since middle school -- to meaningful art education while raising public awareness of cultural diversity. The project includes eight high school students from William Penn and Dickinson High Schools.

The students' mural is a large-scale painting inspired by Study for a Mural by Aaron Douglas, an African American illustrator and muralist and important Harlem Renaissance artist.Study for a Mural (c.1963) -- currently on view in the Museum's modern American Art gallery -- was a mural design for the home of Dr. W.W. and Mrs. Grace Goens, a prominent African American family in Wilmington. Douglas painted two murals for the Goens family, and this study presents his design for the second mural for their Hockessin home in 1964.

Over the course of 10 weeks, Everett and the students met to discuss how to preserve the spirit of Douglas' work while transforming it to reflect themselves and today's society. After learning about Douglas and the Harlem Renaissance from Curator of American Art Heather Campbell Coyle, the students discussed the world they live in and how it might differ from Douglas' era. The students incorporated text from their discussions into the design and learned how to transfer an image to large canvas panels.

The words the students discussed and chose were born out of the original themes of the piece: African American history, cultural significance, and societal progress. As the students planned the mural design, they developed images and symbols that serve as important markers of their own personal histories. After a discussion about monochromatic color (as Douglas typically painted) the students chose to use local color and edit as they went, preserving a homage to Douglas' color scheme in the bottom right corner of the piece. The three-panel piece, which will be named during Thursday's presentation, will be on display on the Museum's lower level during the month of February.

The Museum is open late every Thursday evening from 4:00-8:00pm with free general admission. Special events and programs for all ages are offered on select nights throughout the year.

See www.delart.org.

Celebrating Black History Month with Programs & Exhibit at DHS

Information for this post was provided by a press release from The Delaware Historical Society...

The Delaware Historical Society (DHS) celebrates Black History Month with special public programs and an exhibit.

LECTURE: Littleton P. Mitchell Fighting for Equality in the Civil Rights Era
Thursday, February 4, 6:00pm
Delaware History Museum
Dr. Leland Ware, the Louis L. Redding Chair and Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Delaware, will highlight Delaware civil rights leader Littleton P. Mitchell’s contributions to advancing the cause of equality. Mitchell, president of the Delaware NAACP for 30 years, is known locally and nationally for his personal courage during the Civil Rights Movement. He was also was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal.

PERFORMANCE: The Folk Music of Africans Americans with Devonna B. Rowe
Tuesday, February 9, 12:30pm | Delaware History Museum
Award-winning performing artist and educator, Devonna B. Rowe, will take the audience on an interactive musical journey through the history of the African American people, exploring traditional African songs and influences on modern American culture. A Delaware Historical Society program with funding support from The Black Heritage Educational/Theater Group.

FAMILY PROGRAM: The Underground Railroad in Delaware
Sunday, February 28, 1:00pm | Old Town Hall & the Quaker Hill Historic District
Join DHS and Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation for a family event highlighting the Underground Railroad in Delaware. Walk in the footsteps of freedom seekers who passed through Wilmington on their journey to freedom and participate in activities exploring the difficult decisions made by people at that time. The first half of the program takes place in the Quaker Hill Historic District followed by a visit to Old Town Hall at the Delaware Historical Society. There will be family activities at both locations.

EXHIBIT: Dream Quilts The Dream Quilts are on display through the end of February at the Central YMCA in Wilmington, the Walnut Street YMCA in Wilmington and the Dover Public Library. The project was first launched 2012 to inspire a new generation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s powerful message from his 'I Have a Dream' speech. After learning about Dr. King’s legacy, school children decorated quilt squares that were later stitched into quilts by A Stitch in Time, an African American quilting group in Dover. In 2014, two of the quilts were exhibited in Vice President Biden’s home at the Naval Observatory during Black History Month.

All programs are free and open to the public, but reservations are requested at deinfo@dehistory.org or 302.655.7161.  The Delaware Historical Society owns and operates the Delaware History Museum; a nationally recognized Research Library; Old Town Hall; Willingtown Square, four 18th Century houses surrounding a picturesque urban courtyard located in Wilmington; as well as the Read House & Gardens located in historic New Castle, recognized as an “American Treasure” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service; and the Center for African American Heritage, which will be included as part of the expansion of the Delaware History Museum, expected to reopen in spring of 2016.

See www.dehistory.org.

All I Wanna Do Is Have Some...Delaware Fun-A-Day!

Who isn't in the mood for some fun, especially in the midst of a DelMarVa winter? Delaware Fun-A-Day has your winter-blues remedy Friday, February 5, 2016 from 5:00-9:00pm at The Delaware Contemporary (formerly The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts [DCCA]). It promises to be an evening to fill you with art, music, food, comedy and — of course — plenty of F-U-N!

In the past few years, The Delaware Contemporary has successfully positioned itself as the go-to place for all manner of art "events" and cool happenings. It seems the perfect setting for a project like this.

Delaware Fun-A-Day is a multimedia, all-ages, all-inclusive, non-juried art project, which is actually part of a nationwide project. The fifth annual artistic exhibition was launched by local organizers and entries have grown each year. The event is modeled after Philadelphia's Art Clash Collective, which debuted 11 years ago.

The idea is simple: Make something each day in January (with a self-determined theme) and present it in a show during February's Art Loop. Past projects have run the gamut from sculpture to painting to photography to poetry to knitting to song to beading. The Fun-A-Day crew reports a record number of participants this year — with the youngest participant in First Grade.

Friday will deliver the exhibits of 100+ Delaware artists — drone photography, mythical creatures, dogs of Delaware, mandalas, timed abstract paintings, fairies doing yoga, cross-stitched labyrinths and more — but also music by DJ Skinny White; improv comedy from City Theater Company's Fearless Improv (shows at 6:00pm & 8:00pm); and plenty of nosh from the Contemporary's new caterer/food truck partners Plum Bistro by The Plum Pit. The Contemporary's current gallery exhibitions will also be open: Lynda Schmid's Listening to Horses, Amy Stevens' Letting Go and a joint exhibition by studio artists Dan Jackson and Ken Mabrey. In-house artists' studios will also be open for tours.

See you for the FUN! See www.delawarefunaday.com.