The Cleveland Museum of Art Honors the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Free Activities on Monday, January 20

Cleveland (January 6, 2025)—Join the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) on Monday, January 20, as we honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This free daylong celebration explores how the moving passages of Dr. King’s writings and speeches shed light on the museum’s collection and offers a chance to create a work of art inspired by his legacy. Activities for the day are inspired by The King Center's 2025 theme, Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence. Visitors can partake in activities including storytelling, art making, and reflective writing prompts, and receive free admission to Picasso and Paper, the long-anticipated exhibition that explores Picasso’s lifelong experimentation with paper.

The museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with activities and tours from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Activities include the following:

• A musical performance in the CMA’s contemporary art galleries
  • 12:00–12:45 pm
• Film screenings for children and adults
  • Children’s animated shorts, Celebrating Black Stories, 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
  • Alice Street, 1:00 pm–2:00 p.m.
• Poetry reading by the Most Promising, 2:00–2:30 pm
• Dance performance by Mayne Attraction, 2:45–3:00 p.m.
• Artworks from the Education Art Collection
• Ingalls Library and Museum Archives pop-up
• Printmaking with Zygote Press
• Gallery spotlight tours, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
• Gallery art stories for families, 12:15–12:45 p.m.

Visitors are also welcome to explore the CMA’s galleries and current exhibitions, including Picasso and Paper, Rose B. Simpson: Strata, and Demons, Ghosts, and Goblins in Chinese Art on its closing day. Provenance Café and the museum store are open throughout the day. 

New This Year!

Guests are invited to use the complimentary University Circle Inc. shuttle to travel between the CMA in University Circle and the Community Arts Center (CAC) in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood to explore more opportunities for engagement. Shuttles depart every 20–30 minutes.

The CAC celebrates and honors the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by engaging in the King Foundation’s 2025 theme, Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence. Visitors can participate in visual arts activities inspired by Dr. King’s legacy and print their own themed poster designed by a local artist, courtesy of Future Ink Graphics.

All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Walter E. Fortney, David and Robin Gunning, Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Robin Heiser, the Lloyd D. Hunter Memorial Fund, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Mandi Rickelman, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

Education programs are supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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About the Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovations. One of the top comprehensive art museums in the nation, recognized for its award-winning open access program and free of charge to all, the Cleveland Museum of Art is located in the University Circle neighborhood.