Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum to hold information session for volunteers

Grace Brady, left, executive director of Ireland’s
Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University

 HAMDEN - Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University will hold an information session at 3 p.m. Feb. 7 for individuals who are interested in becoming volunteer docents, according to a release.



Photo by Helen Bennett

"The docents will provide tours of the museum’s permanent collection and special exhibitions to groups of adults and children, from around Connecticut and the world," the release said.

“The ideal docent candidates are interested in art, Irish history, communicating with people and giving back to the community,” said Claire Puzarne, assistant director of the museum, in the release. “Our docents will be expected to facilitate personal interaction, education and enrichment between museum visitors and the artwork, so we’re looking for volunteers who are passionate, eager to learn, enjoy working with people, flexible, articulate and comfortable speaking in public, dependable, honest, punctual and professional.”

Also: Docents must be at least 18 years old, and will be required to attend weekly training sessions for eight weeks, beginning in March 2017. Once trained, they are expected to provide a minimum of two tours monthly, requiring approximately a four-hour commitment per month.

Applications will be accepted until  March 1 and may be obtained at the information session and online at www.ighm.org..

"Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac is home to the world's largest collection of visual art, artifacts and printed materials relating to the Irish Famine," the release noted.

Photo by Helen Bennett

 "The museum preserves, builds and presents its art collection to stimulate reflection, inspire imagination and advance awareness of Ireland's Great Hunger and its long aftermath on both sides of the Atlantic."

"The collection focuses on the famine years from 1845-52, when blight destroyed virtually all of Ireland's potato crops for consecutive years. The crop destruction, coupled with British governmental indifference to the plight of the Irish, who at the time were part of the United Kingdom, resulted in the deaths of more than one million Irish men, women and children and the emigration of more than two million to nations around the world. This tragedy occurred even though exports of food and livestock from Ireland continued and, in some cases, actually increased during the years of the Great Hunger.

Works by noted contemporary Irish artists are featured at the museum including internationally known sculptors John Behan, Rowan Gillespie and Éamonn O'Doherty; as well as contemporary visual artists, Robert Ballagh, Alanna O'Kelly, Brian Maguire and Hughie O'Donoghue. Featured paintings include several important 19th and 20th‐century works by artists such as James Brenan, Daniel MacDonald, James Arthur O'Connor and Jack B. Yeats."




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Peabody Museum to hold 21st annual MLK 'Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice'

"Peabody’s Celebration of Dr. King’s Quest for Environmental and Social Justice

to feature Teen Summit, Food Drive and Community Poetry Open Mic"

 

NEW HAVEN - The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History will hold its 21st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice 2017 on Jan. 15-16, according to a release. 

 

The program runs from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, and thanks "to the support of presenting sponsor COMCAST, the event is free and open to the public," the release said.

 

The Peabody is at 170 Whitney Ave.

 

"The annual celebration recognizes Dr. King’s efforts to ensure environmental and social justice for all people. The term 'environmental justice,' coined long after his death, is based on the principle that all members of society have the right to clean air, water, and soil, as well as a right to live in communities where they can raise their families and send their kids out to play in healthy and nurturing natural environments," the release said.

 

 "Events and activities are designed to demonstrate how Dr. King strove to raise awareness about public health concerns and urban environmental issues that disproportionately affect minorities and low-income communities. Local organizations will be on hand both days to show how environmental justice also entails equal access to relief and community participation in the decisions of government and industry. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” proclaimed Dr. King."

 

The New Haven Museum, one block from the Peabody at 114 Whitney Ave. nue, will host the storytelling portion of the program. Admission is free at the New Haven Museum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, the release said.

 

The Museum is also hosting a Food Drive "in honor of Dr. King, recognizing that one in seven households in the state struggle to put food on the table. Donations of non-perishable food items for the New Haven Community Soup Kitchen and Christian Community Action will be accepted at the Museum, 170 Whitney Ave. through January 17." Items past their expiration date cannot be accepted. Suggested donations can be found on the Peabodywebsite at peabody.yale.edu. For more information on the Food Drive, email peabody.events@yale.edu or call (203) 432-6646.

 

 

Additional support for the event comes from the Yale African American Affinity Group, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Stop & Shop, Subway, and the Yale University Office of New Haven and State Affairs.

 

Following is the complete schedule of activities.

Sunday, January 15, Noon to 4:00 pm

World Stage Performances (Great Hall of Dinosaurs)

12:30–1:15     Community Poetry Open Mic

1:15               The Rahsaan Langley Project — Motown: Earth Wind & Fire

2:15               Tia Russell Dance Studio — Lyrical dance & Jazz

3:00               Kouffin Kanecke Company — Traditional West African dance and drumming performance

 

David Friend Hall (3rd Floor)

12:00–4:00      8th Annual Teen Summit

 

Monday, January 16, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

World Stage Performances (Great Hall of Dinosaurs)

10:45              Dance Battle

11:00–12:00    Community Poetry Open Mic

12:00              Red Supreme Productions Hip Hop Dance Entertainment

12:30              Kenyatta Harris Jr. — Jazz and R&B

1:00                Red Supreme Productions Hip Hop Dance Entertainment

1:30                African Arawak Connection

2:30                Michael Mills — Drumming performance and drum circle finale

 

David Friend Hall (3rd Floor)

10:30–11:30    Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” – Video Approx. 60 mins

11:30–12:00    Been to The Mountain Top – Video Approx. 30 mins

12:30–3:30      Annual Invitational Zannette Lewis Environmental and Social Justice Poetry Slam

                       Invited Poetry Slam Participants: Mind Evolution, Malcolm Wicks, M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T, Paragraph,

                                                                              Crystal Valentine, Sky Raven-The Vegan Poet,

                                                                              Jasmine  Eaton, Aaron Jafferis, Brad Waldron, Jaime Lewis,

                                                                              Steven Willis, Gabriel Ramirez, Lynnette Johnson, Safi

 

Monday, January 16, AT THE NEW HAVEN MUSEUM, 114 WHITNEY AVENUE, one block from the Peabody:

Storytelling & Amistad Exhibit  

Free Admission to the New Haven Museum from 11:00 am to 4:00pm

11:30               Joy Donaldson — “Martin Luther King Word and Song”

1:00                 Waltrina Kirkland Mullins — “We’ve Come a Long Way! Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. King”

 

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New Haven Museum MLK celebration to include storytelling, more

Credit:  Defining Photo

 

NEW HAVEN –The New Haven Museum will hold storytelling and other activities as part of the Yale Peabody Museum’s 21st Annual “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice,” from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 16, according to a release.

 Located at , The New Haven Museum is at 114 Whitney Ave. (as the release noted:  steps away from the Peabody Museum, at 170 Whitney Ave.)

 Admission is free.

 

"Groups featured at the New Haven Museum this year include The Amistad Committee, Discovering Amistad, and Girl Scouts of Central Connecticut, which will also host an activity demonstrating how waste can be recycled and reused to build new homes. The New Haven Story Project will be collecting oral histories from New Haven residents," the release said.

 

The storytelling sessions by two professional storytellers are:
 

11:30 p.m.: Joy W. Donaldson - “Martin Luther King: In Word and Song”
 

1:00 p.m.: Waltrina Kirkland Mullins - "We've Come a Long Way! - Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. King"
 

"Visitors can also enjoy the New Haven Museum’s permanent exhibit, 'Cinque Lives Here: The Amistad Story,' which features the most significant collection of material from the Amistad incident (1839-1841)."
 

 

 

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