The Slave Cabin Project with Ifé Franklin

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PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED.  WE PLAN TO RESCHEDULE AND WILL POST HERE WHEN WE DO.

 

Ifé is coming back!

On Saturday, April 29, teaching artist Ifé Franklin will repeat last fall's engaging and successful contemporary art program, guiding workshop participants in creating small cabin-like structures of their own design to take home with them. Participants will work with fabric, shells, raffia, beads, and buttons to creatively interpret these miniature dwelling spaces.

Using the artist’s Indigo Project for inspiration, these small creations are reminiscent of slave cabins, designed to honor the ancestral spirits of Africans who were enslaved throughout colonial America. Ms. Franklin describes them as “wishes or gifts to the spirits of these ancestors, who never had a home of beauty, or even a home of their own.” She has led similar workshops as the featured guest artist at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

A graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Ifé Franklin has worked as a professional artist for more than 25 years. She specializes in indigo-dyed textiles, using resist and dyeing techniques from West African culture. Ms. Franklin has taught textile and other art forms at the Eliot School for Applied Arts and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work in solo and group shows at several Boston-area galleries and her indigo-dyed fabric-wrapped “Slave Cabin” is part of the Fitchburg Art Museum’s permanent collection.

Ms. Franklin will lead a 2-hour workshop for up to 20 participants. Children ages 7-12 are welcome, but must be accompanied by an adult. The workshop will include a brief museum tour and light refreshments.

Fee is $10 for RH&SQ or Historic New England members and $15 for all others. Preregistration is required.

To register, please email Programs@RoyallHouse.org, indicating the names of attendees, and whether you are a member of either sponsoring organization.

This program is co-sponsored by Historic New England and supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Enjoy these photos of our November 2016 workshop: https://www.facebook.com/280760945336912/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1198449256901405