© 2021 Estate of Hughie Lee-Smith / Licensed by VAGA at ARS, NY Uploaded by MFAJess
Hughie Lee-Smith, The Walls, 1954, Oil on board, 24 x 36 in., Art Bridges.
In conjunction with the Art Bridges Foundation, the museum is welcoming interactive opportunities to immerse St. Pete and art lovers abroad in events centered around various disciplines of the arts, weaving together music, theater, prints and more.
The week-long arts project “Our Walls: Real and Imagined” starts next week on Monday, Jan. 24 and invites attendees to channel their inner artist on the MFA’s front lawn to reflect on the walls and barriers we are faced with. Participants will create signs documenting a reflection of their own personal perspective on the impact these walls, whether physical or intangible, have on our everyday lives. Completed signs will then be displayed on the front lawn for passersby to see.
The project will challenge sign makers and viewers to contemplate themes of hope, isolation, identity and navigation. To sign up to receive and create a free sign, those interested can visit the sign station located inside the museum from Jan. 24 through 30.
The MFA will also host a multi-genre night of musical performances with “Spiral Full Circle,” on Jan. 27. The event will honor Spiral, a collection of Black artists formed in the mid-1960s and the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Around the same time as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Spiral was formed with the mission of balancing activism with personal artistic practice.
Featured performing artists include speculative fiction author Tenea D. Johnson; award-winning actor, writer, producer, director, spoken word artist and vocalist Cranstan Cumberbatch; and Norman Lewis-inspired saxophonist and musician Butch Thomas. The event will take place in the museum’s Marly Room Jan. 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. and is free with museum admission.
