Celebrate Black History Month

Civil Rights Children’s Crusade with Schroeder Cherry And His Puppets

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2024 | 12:00PM -1:00 PM

CITY LORE

56 E 1st ST (First ST between 1st and 2nd Ave)

This Interactive family friendly puppet show by exhibiting artist and puppeteer Schroeder Cherry is part of “The Calling: The Transformative Power of African American Doll and Puppet Making.”

A young boy discovers that his strict grandfather went to jail as a child. What was that about? This 30 minute performance is narrated by a rod puppet who uses wooden cutouts to tell what he learns about the 1963 Civil Rights Children’s Crusade. The puppeteer is in full view, dressed in black. The show ends in a participatory chant with the audience. Appropriate for 4th grade to adults. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

About the Artist

Dr. Schroeder Cherry, a Baltimore based artist, grew up in Washington, DC. He is an award-winning mixed media artist who captures scenes of African American life with his puppets and his assemblage/mixed media artistry. Recently featured on the PBS program Crafts in American, he is currently the curator of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art and teaches Museum Studies at Morgan State University. His highly sought after work is exhibited nationally. “Schroeder Cherry” – Fleckenstein Gallery.com -Schroeder Cherry’s puppets are created as part of a performing troupe. Although the characters do not represent any one particular real-life person, they are inspired by personality types found within the African diaspora. The puppets perform in original shows that range from fantasy, like “The Land of Primary Colors,” to historically based shows such as “Can You Spell Harlem?” “Tuskegee Airmen;” Underground Railroad, Not A Subway;” and “Civil Rights Children’s Crusade.” Occasionally the puppets perform in “puppet slams.” These are shows where a group of puppeteers take the stage back-to-back and perform for about five minutes each.

About the Exhibit

On View October 6th, 2023 – March 2nd, 2024

“The Calling: The Transformative Power of African American Doll and Puppet Making,” is conceived and curated by Camila Bryce-Laporte, (a noted doll maker herself) in partnership with scholar Phyllis M. Machunda. This exhibition includes dolls and puppets created by a group of 26 nationally acclaimed multi-media artists from the African Diaspora, who came of age in communities in the United States during the height of the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements. Using mixed media, these visual storytellers chronicle the history, identity, and culture of their communities. Compelled or “called” to continue the special and enduring tradition of Black doll making, these artists recognize that their works are healing and transformative for themselves and for the communities they represent.