Free Daylong Celebration Honors the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 19, 2026

Cleveland (January 6, 2026)—The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) honors the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 19, 2026, with a free daylong celebration. This year’s theme centers on reflection and the importance of preserving history and legacies—through art, performance, oral history, objects, and our communities themselves. The day’s activities explore how the moving passages of Dr. King’s writings and speeches shed light on the museum’s collection and create a work of art inspired by his legacy.   

Visitors can explore art through printmaking, create their own analog animations, and take a guided tour with a community partner to investigate how artworks can express powerful messages and inspire communication and collaboration. Attendees also receive free admission on a first-come, first-serve basis to Renaissance to Runway, the CMA’s largest fashion exhibition to date. Featuring 80 ensembles and garments and 40 jewelry pieces, it’s the first-of-its-kind Italian fashion exhibition.  

Activities: 

• Printmaking with Zygote Press, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
• Design a flag with Remember Love Recovery Project (opens in a new tab)
• Craft a journal with Akron Childrens
• Leave a message with Splice Cream Truck
• Family-friendly hands-on filmmaking workshop with artist Robert Banks, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
• Artworks from the Education Art Collection
• Ingalls Library and Museum Archives pop-up
• Conservation information booth
• Community Tours: Voices on View at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. 

Special performances throughout the day include: 

• Cleveland Classical Guitar
• Michelle R. Smith, Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate
• Dance with 10K Movement
• Story time with Hassan
• Cleveland Black Storytellers featuring Barbara Eady  

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. 

Visitors are also welcome to explore the CMA’s galleries and current exhibitions, including Ann Hamilton: still and moving • the tactile image, Filippino Lippi and Rome, and Pintoricchio Magnified: An Immersive Conservation Experience. Provenance Café and the museum store are open throughout the day.  

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 activities. Shuttles depart every 20–30 minutes. 

Free complimentary hot cocoa and cookies provided by Bon Appetit while supplies last.  

Visitors to our Community Arts Center can participate in visual arts activities inspired by Dr. King's legacy all day long. This special day of public programming, outside regular open hours, includes art making, live performances, and the chance to engage with local artists and partners! Click here to learn more.

Major support is provided by Akron Children’s. 

All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Principal support is provided by Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen and Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Medical Mutual of Ohio, the Edwin D. Northrup II Fund, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by an anonymous donor, Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Linda Harper, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Susan LaPine, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, the Pickering Foundation, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Suzanne Cushwa Rusnak and Jeff Rusnak, Ellen and Lowell Satre, in memory of Dee Schafer, 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, Jack and Jeanette Walton, 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.