Award-winning choral director Dr. André de Quadros leads a variety of Wheaton creators such as Chorale Singers, Chamber Singers, and World Music Ensemble in exploring themes of social justice through song and spoken word.
Join us for a conversation with Museum founder Debra Britt and educator Beth Danesco. They will share the story of the creation of the National Black Doll Museum and the rich history of Black doll makers and collectors in the Massachusetts area.
Artist Shaquora R’ Bey will share her history as a doll maker and soft sculptor. Bey is an artist whose work encompasses a wide range of media including textiles, crotchet, beads, and unique hair designs. She has been commissioned to make sculptures and dolls for television and films. She believes in the healing process of using craft as therapy and in using art to raise self-esteem and awareness. Her soft sculptures, which she describes as “the embodiment of femininity and masculinity,” are featured in What Only You Can Make in the Beard and Weil Galleries.
Join us for a workshop led by National Black Doll Museum founders Debra Britt and Felicia Walker. The workshop will focus on the African Wrap Doll, an adaptation of dolls based on the techniques of a traditional artform rooted in 18th C. African American culture and a specialty of the National Black Doll Museum.
Participants will create their own wrap dolls to take home using fabric and reclaimed and recycled materials all of which will be provided. All are welcome and refreshments will be provided. This is a drop in event, join as you are able.
Join us for a workshop led by National Black Doll Museum founders Debra Britt and Felicia Walker. The workshop will focus on the African Wrap Doll, an adaptation of dolls based on the techniques of a traditional artform rooted in 18th C. African American culture and a specialty of the National Black Doll Museum.
Participants will create their own wrap dolls to take home using fabric and reclaimed and recycled materials all of which will be provided. All are welcome and refreshments will be provided. This is a drop in event, join as you are able.
Arda Collins poetry features a quiet assertive voice that builds or collects or accumulates a domestic space. It is an approach to subject matter and context that has, in the poetry world, found a greater voice through women poet’s work.
Five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today, a creative force with fifteen albums to her name. Kidjo’s creative power is palpable through the beauty and strength of her voice, her music and movement, visual aesthetic, linguistic prowess and enormous advocacy work that serves so many. Kidjo has cross-pollinated the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America. Yet her love for collaboration inspires musical fusions and partnering with gifted musicians from across the globe. Angelique also advocates on behalf of children as a UNICEF and OXFAM Ambassador. She created her own charitable foundation, Batonga, dedicated to support the education of young girls in Africa.
Join us to kick off Family & Friends Weekend arts@wheaton style. Come get a taste of what the arts at Wheaton can offer, there will be live performances, food trucks, tie dye, galaxy glitter jars and more!
Writer, teacher, and tattoo artist, Phuc Tran, reads from his humorous and introspective memoir, “Sigh, Gone. A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In”, about his family’s escape from Vietnam, displacement in America, and his struggle to fit in during high school. A brief Q&A will follow this lunchtime event.
Writer Kim Adrian reads from her memoir “The Twenty-Seventh Letter of the Alphabet” and discusses growing up with the confusion and chaos of mental illness and generational trauma. A brief Q&A will follow this lunchtime event.