African-American Festival

The African-American Festival, at the Appleton Museum of Art is GREAT! My good friend and neighbor, Danna Crawford, and myself spent a most interesting, educational as well as enjoyable 2 1/2 hours there!

We were entertained by the FANTASTIC folk and traditional storyteller, J'miah Nabawi, who captivated us with his telling of stories that included games, props and audience participation in the auditorium. We enjoyed stories about Bruh Rabbit, river rocks, and sweet potato pies and more!

We then strolled through the African-American exhibit, marveling at all the artworks of more than 50 African-American artists from the 1940s to today. They describe the chronological history of the southern culture in their works of art. Many of these were from personal and/or family experiences.

We then went upstairs and was thoroughly inspired by the BEAUTIFUL paintings we found there! We ended our excursion at the exhibit of O.L.Samuels, where he entertained us with his own story telling of his inspired hand carved wood sculptures of many colors, paint and glitter! O.L.Samuels,taught himself wood carving in the early 80s. His works are found in several permanent museum collections including the Arkansas Arts Center and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and in many private collections.

Thumbs up for this experience!