News Release

Marla Jackson Selected as Park's First Artist in Residence

Date: June 18, 2012

Contact: Justin Sochaki
Phone number: [phone]

Topeka, KS - Artists have long impacted the formation, expansion, and direction of our national parks. The work of many artists has also assisted in providing perspectives at parks that create meaningful experiences for our visitors. And creating art can be a powerful way to learn the stories of the past, especially for children. Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site is pleased to announce that quilt artist Marla A. Jackson will be the park's first Artist in Residence.

For the next four months, Ms. Jackson will collaborate with park staff to engage youth and audiences in art programs that will connect visitors to stories of the struggle for equality. Ms. Jackson will assist with art projects for five weeks of summer camps that will bring students from Topeka, Lawrence, and Kansas City area Boys and Girls Clubs to learn about the struggle for civil rights in Kansas by visiting historic sites and engaging in art projects.

One of eight children born to Fern Eaton Crum and Rufus Crum, Jr., originally from Royal Oak Township in Michigan, Ms. Jackson spent many weekends and summers with her paternal grandparents, Rufus and Zelma Crum, and her once enslaved great-grandmother, Lucille Crum. Ms. Jackson's artistic direction was influenced by her family's stories, and her quilts depict scenes and themes that capture the pride, spirit, pain, and joy of the African American experience. Her primary goal with her work is to echo the untold stories of heroes that history has overlooked, forgotten, or hidden.

Painting the landscapes of the American West, visual artists like George Catlin and Albert Bierstadt focused attention on natural wonders in the western landscape, then unfamiliar to the eastern populace. These visual records of early artists helped to stimulate the establishment of many of our first national parks. Today, artists from a wide variety of mediums draw upon the multifaceted quality of parks for inspiration. Artists like Ms. Jackson translate the national park's purpose, as a place that preserves our nation's struggle for equality, into images and projects that bring a deeper understanding of the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education to youth.

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site tells the story of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended legal segregation in public schools. The site is located at 1515 SE Monroe Street in Topeka, Kansas, and is open free of charge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with the exceptions of Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1. For more information call 785-354-4273 or visit www.nps.gov/brvb and www.facebook.com/brownvboardnps