Final Weeks! Ends November 8, 2020
The year 2020 marks the anniversary of several key events from the civil rights movement. Sixty-five years ago, in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Five years later, Ruby Bridges integrated her New Orleans elementary school, and four Black students catalyzed the sit-in movement at the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. The exhibition honors these bold actions and voices of the past while highlighting the importance of activism today, in a time when the fight for justice continues nationwide.
Through Picture the Dream, titles by beloved children’s book authors and artists as well as talented newcomers come together to encourage discussion and inspire young people to be tomorrow’s agents of transformation. The presentation includes more than eighty artworks, ranging from paintings and prints to collages and drawings, that evoke the power and continuing relevance of the era that shaped American history and continues to reverberate today. The exhibition emphasizes children’s roles as activists and tells important stories about the movement’s icons, including Parks, Bridges, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Picture the Dream consists of three sections and a short film. The first section, A Backward Path, investigates life and conditions leading up to the crystallization of the definitive civil rights movement. The second, The Rocks Are the Road, focuses on key voices and events that shaped the movement. Finally, the third section, Today’s Journey, Tomorrow’s Promise, explores equality in the present day, looking at what has changed and what progress can still be made. Each segment strives to display how vibrant stories for children can unpack difficult dialogues around activism and race relations in the United States.
