Spady Museum Readies for Black History Month 2023 With Special Exhibit and Programming
For Black History Month 2023, the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum will offer new and returning programs and exhibits, in celebration of this month of recognition. February is dedicated to sharing and commemorating the contributions of Africans and African Americans to the fabric of international and national culture.
Last year, the museum announced its newest permanent exhibition, “Strong Communities Emerging: The Development of Coastal Communities,” which invites visitors to learn how newly freed citizens made their way to this region for a new start. In spite of the obstacles that follow them to their new home, they thrive and leave a legacy of strong communities that endure today. Their stories will be told through photos, oral histories and narratives shared by the docent on a guided tour. Cost: Free to enter gallery; $20 for guided tour; no reservations needed.
What’s Upcoming
Through February 17, 2023: New Exhibit! Four Decades of Charm & Grace: Recognizing Local Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
The local women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Xi Pi Omega Chapter are celebrating 40 years of service with a special exhibition at the Spady Museum. The exhibit will be on display through February 17, 2023.
Founded on January 15, 1906, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is the first of the four sororities designed to meet the civic, philanthropic and cultural needs of Black coeds. Starting in 1930, four sororities and five fraternities eventually came together under the umbrella of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and later began to be referred to as “The Divine 9.” Leading “by culture and by merit,” Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. members are leaders in Palm Beach County, having a presence in every facet of the community.
The Spady Museum’s exhibition will feature the history of the national organization and the members of the local chapter and highlight their community service work in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. The exhibition will close with the celebration of their 40th chapter anniversary at Benvento in Boynton Beach. Learn more about Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., at https://www.facebook.com/XiPiOmegaAKA
February 17, 2023: FREE Black Youth Awareness Art Festival
The energy of the first Black Youth Awareness Art Festival spilled out into the streets of West Settlers’ Historic District, as the Spady Museum and Milagro Center welcomed more than 300 new and old friends to the Black History Month event. In 2023, the Spady Museum plans for a repeat performance, this time in partnership with CAPE Universal. At the festival, young people took to the stage with music, poetry/spoken word and dance, while youth chatted with customers. Artwork created by local youth lined the outdoor venue, which provided a lively backdrop for young, small business owners selling their wares. Delray Beach Police officers handed out ice cream and Digital Vibes kept the music in the air. About 50 audience members joined a giant drum circle, led by Anthony Bacchus of CAPE Universal.
Where: Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, outside on the museum grounds, 170 NW 5th Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33444.
When: 4-10 p.m., Friday, February 17, 2023
February 23, 2023: FREE Authors Speak Series, featuring Dr. Jasmine Cobb
In an effort to celebrate and promote black cultural awareness, three of the most respected nonprofit organizations in Delray Beach are again collaborating to present Authors Speak Series 2023, according to Charlene Farrington, Executive Director of Spady Cultural Heritage Museum; Marjorie Waldo, President & CEO of Arts Garage; and Renee Jadusingh, Executive Director of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Delray Beach.
The timely topic of this “free to see” series is The Impact of Race on American Society, offering “interesting and enlightening conversations with three writers who have cultivated a perspective on black cultural awareness through their research and personal experiences.
Dr. Jasmine Cobb: New Growth: The Art & Texture of Black Hair
Dr. Cobb is Professor of African & African American Studies and of Art, Art History and Visual Studies at Duke University, as well as a co-director of the “From Slavery to Freedom” (FS2F) Franklin Humanities Lab. A scholar of black cultural production and visual representation, her book New Growth: The Art & Texture of Black Hair traces the history of Afro-textured coiffure, exploring it as a visual material through which to reimagine the sensual experience of Blackness. Through close readings of slave narratives, scrapbooks, travel illustration, documentary film and photography, as well as collage, craft, and sculpture, from the nineteenth century to the present, she shows how the radical distinctions ascribed to people of African descent become simultaneously visible and tactile. Whether examining Soul Train’s and Ebony’s promotion of the Afro hair style alongside cosmetics or how artists, such as Alison Saar and Lorna Simpson, underscore the construction of Blackness through the representation of hair, Cobb reveals the various ways that people of African descent forge new relationships to the body, public space, and visual culture through the embrace of Black hair.
Where: Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach, FL 33444
When: 6 p.m., Thursday, February 23
FREE REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/AuthorsSpeakFebruary
