Exhibition: Saturday, August 4, through Monday, September 17
Opening Celebration: Saturday, August 4, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
A Live Conversation with Arno Michaelis: Saturday, August 4, 1 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
On display from August 4 through September 17, a very special summertime exhibition will showcase the collaborative efforts of the Figge Art Museum, the nationwide program Students Rebuild, and Davenport Community Schools' Creative Arts Academy in Students Rebuild: Facing Difference, a beautiful and moving collection of student self-portraits from around the globe and here in the Quad Cities.
Students Rebuilt is a collaborative K-12 program that inspires young people worldwide to learn and take collective action on critical global issues. This year, the organization challenged young people to explore topics such as race, gender, and culture without bias, assumptions, or fear by examining our unique identities and creating self-portraits – thousands of them. Each self-portrait submitted to Students Rebuilt was matched with a $3 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation, raising $600,000 to support programs run by CARE and Search for Common Ground to help youth on different sides of conflict build peace. By creating self-portraits, the goal is for students to build understanding, empathy, and peace around the globe and right in their own classrooms.
In addition to the August 4 opening celebration for Students Rebuild: Facing Difference, which begins at 10 a.m., the Figge will host related programming in the 1 p.m. presentation “Facing Difference: A Live Conversation with Arno Michaelis.” In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Michaelis was a founding member of what became the world's largest racist skinhead organization and the lead singer of the hate-metal band Centurion. However, single parenthood, love for his daughter, and the forgiveness shown by the people he once hated all helped to turn Arno’s life around, bringing him to embrace diversity and practice gratitude. Today, Michaelis is a motivational speaker, author of My Life After Hate, and co-author of The Gift of Our Wounds, and will share with Figge guests his ongoing process of character development and describe his work as co-founder of the peacekeeping mission Serve 2 Unite.
Students Rebuild: Facing Difference will be on display during the Figge's regular museum hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays), and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. For more information on this and other Figge exhibits, programs, and events, call (563)326-7804 or visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.
