One of the most exciting things about our work in the Education & Public Programs department is getting to create opportunities for people to meaningfully engage with art at LACMA all year round. One of the many programs we offer is Evenings for Educators, where we invite K–12 teachers to join us at the museum four times a year to make connections: to great art, to colleagues, to their own creativity, and to the practical tools that make arts integration in the classroom possible.

On April 9, teachers can come to LACMA to learn more about the life and work of the prolific artist Charles White. The program includes exclusive after-hours viewing of Charles White: A Retrospective, art-making workshops, dinner, and a special lecture by Bridget R. Cooks, Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies and Department of Art History at University of California, Irvine.

A Chicago native, Charles White lived in Los Angeles for 23 years and taught at Otis Art Institute, where he mentored some of today’s most significant artists. His dynamic, virtuosic portrayals of African Americans communicate universal truths such as courage, hope, justice, perseverance, love, and dignity. A committed social activist, White believed art “...must ally itself with the forces of liberation.”

We believe White’s work will resonate strongly with teachers and help students connect to important events in American history. There are also many connections to be made to English Language Arts. For example, one of White’s prints was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. In the classroom, it can spark student-led conversations and writing activities comparing these two important cultural artifacts, one text-based and the other image-based.

Join us for the final program of the 2018–19 Evenings for Educators series to learn more about how to carry Charles White’s legacy forward in your classrooms. Tickets are available online.