The Larger Conversation

The Larger Conversation: Museums and Arts Activism
Museums preserve history and traditions, while using their collections and exhibitions to spark curiosity, encourage conversation, and share knowledge. Given the current health crisis and discussions of racism in America, should museums also be seen as places for social change? Are museums open to making space for community conversations that may challenge their own inherent cultures and systems of perceived power, racism, and colonialism? Join Black and Brown artists and educators for a lively conversation among individuals who are using activism to critique and explore how museums and cultural institutions can support change. Participants include:

• Tory Bullock, Actor, Arts Activist & Educator
• L'Merchie Frazier, Director of Education and Interpretation, Museum of African American History
• Chanel Thervil, Artist and Educator, Boston’s Apollo Community Collaborator
• Golden, Artist, Poet, and ISGM Neighborhood Salon Luminary
• Catherine T. Morris, Director of Public Programs

The Larger Conversation: The Rearview Mirror of Queerness and Erasure
Leaving behind home, friends, and family to discover one’s true identity can be both liberating and challenging. The contemporary uncertainty around John Singer Sargent’s painting of Thomas McKeller featured in Boston's Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent raises questions of intentionality and whose lived experience is reflected for public consumption and/or acceptance. Join Community Collaborators and Michelle Grohe, Esther Stiles Eastman Curator of Education for a candid conversation focused on queerness and erasure. Participants include:

• Theo Tyson, Boston’s Apollo Community Collaborator and Polly Thayer Starr Fellow in American Art and Culture, the Boston Athenaeum
• Daniel Corral, Artist and Boston’s Apollo Community Collaborator
• Michelle Grohe, Esther Stiles Eastman Curator of Education