The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Celebration, the Saint Louis Art Museum’s annual event commemorating the legacy of Dr. King, will continue in January as a virtual event. Videos of spoken-word and musical performances will be available online starting Jan. 18. 

The theme for the 2021 event is “Inspired by a Movement.” It will feature local Black performing artists showcasing original music, dance and theatrical presentations in response to photographs by Moneta Sleet, Jr. in the museum’s collection.  

Sleet is best known for his documentation of the Civil Rights movement, and the museum’s collection includes more than 100 of his photographs. Working for Johnson Publishing, home of  Ebony  and  Jet  magazines, Sleet’s first assignment was to photograph the Montgomery Bus Boycott. During his career, Sleet earned a Pulitzer Prize for the outstanding quality of his work, in addition to awards from the National Urban League award and the National Association of Black Journalists award. 

For the Art Museum’s event, each performing artist has selected one of Sleet’s photographs from the museum’s collection as inspiration for their unique performances. Kathryn Bentley, the director of the Black studies program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, will host the virtual program.  

Videos of the performances will be featured on the museum’s website starting Monday, Jan. 18 and will be available throughout 2021. To watch the videos, visit slam.org/MLKfreedomcelebration. This program is supported by the Dana Brown Endowed Fund for Education and Community Programs.