“I Am A …” Poster-Making Workshop

“I Am a Man” was a statement that echoed throughout the civil rights movement. Conceived in Memphis, Tenn., after two African-American trash handlers were killed by a malfunctioning garbage truck, the phrase was a declaration of humanity, a demand for better wages and safer working conditions. The Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike began Feb. 12, 1968, and Martin Luther King Jr. joined the cause a month later and gave speeches throughout the state. Today prominent African-American artists like Hank Willis Thomas and Glenn Ligon—artists represented in the Colby museum collection—have incorporated this phrase into their own artwork. Visit the museum from 4 to 8:30 p.m. and create your own “I Am a…” poster. Polaroids of guests holding their final posters will hang in the museum’s Williams D. Adams Gallery.

Location: William D. Adams Gallery, Colby Museum of Art.