2 P.M.
Welcome| Dr. Patricia McDonnell, Director, Wichita Art Museum
Dr. Patricia McConnell, Director of the Wichita Art Museum, will begin the community symposium that will showcase three Wichita museums partnerships with simultaneous exhibitions devoted to Gordon Parks, a Kansas native and one of the most celebrated African American artists of his time. Talk will be held at the Wichita Art Museum.

2:15 p.m. Dr. Galyn Vesey | Black Wichita, 1945-1958
A retired professor in public affairs, Dr. Galyn Vesey was one of the participants, as a teenager, in the Wichita Dockum Drugstore sit-in in 1958. Vesey will talk about his current research for the book project Black Wichita: 1945-1958.

3 P.M. Karen Haas | Gordon Parks in Kansas
Lane Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Karen Haas just curated the acclaimed exhibition Gordon Parks: Back to Ft. Scott, now on view at WAM. Parks returned to his hometown in 1950—retracing his roots and examining troubled race relations before the Civil Rights Movement. Haas will examine the photographs and their meaning from this compelling photo narrative.

4 P.M. Dr. Martin A. Berger | Images of the Civil Rights Struggle
Dr. Martin A. Berger wrote the 2013 book and curated the exhibition Freedom Now! Forgotten Photographs of the Civil Rights Struggle, now on view at the WAM. In collective memory, the Civil Rights Movement is remembered by dramatic scenes-protesters attacked by police dogs or black activists victimized by violence. Berger asserts that other pictures tell other stories.
Blacks changed American discriminatory practices through their action, not their suffering. Professor of History of Art and Visual Culture at University of California at Santa Cruz, Berger will explore this crucial aspect of the Civil Rights era.

5-6 P.M. | Reception and Exhibition Viewing
In Winter 2016, three Wichita museums partner with simultaneous exhibitions devoted to Gordon Parks, a Kansas native and one of the most celebrated African American artists of his time. Galleries will be open for viewing.
Visit ulrich.wichita.edu/visualjustice for complete symposium schedule