Join us for an evening of music, art making, gallery tours, listening session and panel discussion, outdoor games, food trucks, and a film screening on the C Spire Stage. Presented with the Pike School of Art and 2020 CAPE In-State Artist in Resident Charles Edward Williams.
Bring your own blanket or chair.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mississippi Humanities Council, and is presented in partnership with the Pike School of Art in McComb, MS.
5PM: Cash Bar & Food Trucks. Art Activity “Visual Soundscapes” begins. Galleries are open.
6PM: Listening session of Charles Edward William’s work FORWARD and a panel discussion about the work’s place in the history of the Civil Rights Movement with Monique Davis, Director for the Center for Art and Public Exchange (CAPE); Brenda Travis, an African American veteran of the Civil Rights Movement from McComb; and Flonzie Brown Wright, best-selling author of Looking Back to Move Ahead, which chronicles her journey in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
7PM: The Everyday People’s Band performs.
8:30PM: Program wraps. Mark your calendars & join us in February for the next Museum After Hours!
About FORWARD
When Charles Edward Williams was selected by CAPE at the Mississippi Museum of Art in 2019 to participate in their Artist in Residence program, he drew from the histories and legacies of McComb, MS, and surrounding areas—areas that endured extreme violence by the KKK, who sought to intimidate and scare black voters. In 1961, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had its first voting registrations in McComb, Mississippi, and Herbert Lee, a member of the NAACP, was murdered near Liberty by white state representative E.H. Hurst. From these historical events and more that took place in McComb, Williams has written and produced 8 tracks for an album EP entitled, FORWARD. The album’s title is an exploration of and response to the 1960s audio/visual project, “We Shall Never Turn Back,” whose lyrics specifically related to the incidents of Pike and Amite counties in 1961. The work juxtaposes Williams’ own personal encounters, past and present, with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The concept album consists of tracks, recorded in McComb, with audio, spoken word, and music from local citizens and community stakeholders. The album is currently available via the streaming service Bandcamp.
