Let's Celebrate Art for Peace and Justice in 2012

Norma C. Wilson, President, Vermillion Area Arts Council

We hope you can attend Vermilion Area Arts Council’s Third Annual Art Exhibit honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Washington Street Arts Center, 202 Washington Street, on the National Holiday, Monday, January 16, from 2-6 p.m.

            In 1957 Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the civil rights movement. The ideals of the SCLC were based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ; the organization’s techniques of non-violent resistance were influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. During the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, Dr. King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, for protest and action; meanwhile he wrote five books. In 1963, he directed the peaceful march of 250,000 people on Washington, D.C. There he delivered his speech, "l Have a Dream."  In 1964, at the age of thirty-five, he was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. Four years later, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city.

            Our January 16^th Art for Peace and Justice Exhibit featuring works by artists and poets of all ages will be free and open to the public. Students from the University of South Dakota’s Center for Academic Engagement will conduct art activities for children between 2 and 4:30 that afternoon. The foyer will feature art representing the world’s diverse cultures that was donated to the VAAC by USD’s Wesleyan Ministries.  Hot apple cider and cookies will be served.  Artists and poets are invited to display original works addressing the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights issues, social issues, or peace in any art form.  All work must be hand-delivered to Washington Street Arts Center on Saturday, January 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; or between 1 and 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 15. For more information contact Lora Hensellora.hensel@usd.edu or Tom Emanuel tom.emanuel@usd.edu.