In Dialogue: Smithsonian Objects and Social Justice

Heighten your civic awareness through conversations about art, history and material culture. Each month, educators from the National Portrait Gallery will partner with colleagues from across the Smithsonian to discuss how historical objects from their respective collections speak to today’s social justice issues.

How does a community sustain well-being in the face of systemic inequity? Together with our co-hosts from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, we will explore this key question in relationship to a 1946 artwork, “Can Fire in the Park” by Beauford Delaney, and LaToya Ruby Frazier's photographs, which featured in the exhibition “Kinship” and document the impact of the water crisis on the citizens of Flint, MI.

The Zoom link will be emailed to registered participants via Eventbrite 12-24 hours in advance of the program. Each participant must register separately. We will only allow participants into the meeting if their names (and email addresses) are on the registration list.

The Portrait Gallery strives to provide programs that are accessible to all visitors. Real-time captioning (CART) will be provided for this program. If you have questions about the accessibility of this program or need to request additional accommodations, please contact Vanessa Jones at jonesve@si.edu. Two weeks advance notice is appreciated for requesting additional accommodations.

In order to register and participate in this program, you must be 18 or older, or be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

For general inquires please contact npgeducation@si.edu.

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Image Credit: LEFT: Beauford Delaney, Can Fire in the Park, 1946, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1989.23. RIGHT: Self-Portrait with Shea and Her Daughter, Zion, in the Bedroom Mirror, Newton, Mississippi, 2017–19. From the series “Flint Is Family In Three Acts,” 2016–21. LaToya Ruby Frazier. Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery. © LaToya Ruby Frazier