Now through April of 2023, a new exhibit, Folk Art & Familia: Celebrating our Hispanic Heritage, will be on display at the Museum of Historic Annapolis at 99 Main Street, just steps from Annapolis City Dock. Presented in the Museum’s Community Gallery, the exhibit features student works based on the traditional folk art of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama. The students’ art reflects the unique cultural aesthetics of their communities here in Annapolis and celebrates and fosters a greater appreciation of Hispanic history, art, and culture.
Historic Annapolis partnered with the Marshall Learning Center of Marshall Hope Corporation, an after-school program in Annapolis directed by Tatiana Klein, to spark conversations about Hispanic art, culture, and the importance of collecting and preserving family history. To learn more about their family’s connections to Central America and Mexico and immigration experiences, each student conducted and recorded oral interviews with relatives. Clips from those interviews are also presented within the exhibit and share details of each family’s heritage and how they are making a home in Annapolis.
Jóvenes Artistas support the student art program at the Marshall Learning Center through Maryland Hall. The program’s art instructor, Phyllis Saroff, worked with the student artists for several weeks to study Central American and Mexican folk art. Their artwork was inspired by what they learned. Historic Annapolis’s Education Specialist, Danielle Herbst, and Curator of Collections, Robin Gower, worked together to create and install the new exhibit and guide the students in writing their artist statements. Students studying Spanish at the Key School assisted with translations.
“The Community Gallery at our new Museum allows us to engage a broader audience and expand partnerships,” says Karen Theimer Brown, President, and CEO of Historic Annapolis. “We are excited to partner with Marshall Learning Center and the Hispanic community in a colorful display of student art as our inaugural community exhibition. We are grateful to the families for sharing their stories and for their work to preserve their cultural heritage.”
This collaborative exhibit will be on display until April 2023 and is included with Museum admission. Admission at the Museum is $10 for adults, $5 for children 6-17, and free for children under six and members of Historic Annapolis. The Museum also offers free admission for those receiving food assistance (SNAP/WIC benefits) through the Museums for All program. For more information, visit museum.annapolis.org or call 410.267.7619.
