MAC Family Fun Series - You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce

Saturday, April 13, 2024, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Family Fun Series It's time for some family fun at the MAC! You'll be delighted with our new family series programming, which is geared toward preschool - young elementary-aged kids and their families.

You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce

An exciting presentation featuring authors Chiquita Mullins Lee & Carmella Van Vleet! You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce is a picture book biography about the barber shop of woodcarver Elijah Pierce, recipient of the highest folk art honor in the United States.

"Creeeeak!" goes the screen door to self-taught artist Elijah Pierce's barbershop art studio. A young boy walks in for an ordinary haircut and walks out having discovered a lifetime of art.

Mr. Pierce's wood carvings are in every corner of the small studio. There are animals, scenes from his life, and those detailing the socio-political world around him. It's this collection of work that will eventually win Elijah the National Heritage Fellowship in 1982 just two years before his death. But the young boy visiting the shop in the 1970s doesn't know that yet. All he knows is: "You gotta meet Mr. Pierce!"

Based on the true story of Elijah Pierce and his community barber shop in Columbus, Ohio, this picture book includes cleverly collaged museum-sourced photos of his art and informative backmatter about his life. With engaging text by Pierce to the Soul! playwright Chiquita Mullins-Lee and Christopher Award-winning author Carmella Van Vleet, it's illustrated with striking Japanese woodblock by Jennifer Mack-Watkins. A new addition to vital Black art history!

Please select a performance
 
 

Single admission: $5

Families with 3 or more children: $15

Adults are free with child.