The public is invited to a unique photo unveiling event scheduled in honor of the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Eddie Mae Herron Center and BRTC’s Office of Corporate and Community Education are hosting the event at the EMH Center on Archer Street in Pocahontas on Thursday, April 4, from 5-7:30 p.m.
Among the guests at the event will be several individuals actually pictured in Peter Kluge’s historic photo series.
Featured are a set of twenty black-and-white historic photos by the late Peter Gustav Kluge donated to the center. Kluge took the photos on a Sunday afternoon in June of 1968 on what he writes “was considered the ‘Main Street’ of the black section of Jonesboro, East Washington Avenue.” He took the photos about two months after the assassination, during a time when racial tension and mistrust remained high. Kluge stated his reasons for taking the photos was “to illustrate how we are all the same…they were just pictures of everyday life.”
Kluge grew up in Jonesboro, studied art at ASU and UA, worked at the Arkansas Art Center, and won many awards and honors. Much of his life was spent in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for his work as printmaker, painter, photographer, art teacher, graphic designer, interior designer, and furniture designer and builder.
Members of Kluge’s family will also be among guests at the April 4 event. In addition, paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be Jonesboro vocalist Samantha Davis, Pocahontas Junior High students of Michelle Kercheval, the BRTC Kimbrough Choir and BRTC student Daija Williford.
“We are so pleased to have received this photo series as a gift, and we are excited to share them with the community,” said EMH Center Director Pat Johnson. “We appreciate the role of Carol Ann Carroll in connecting us to the Kluge family, and we want to invite everyone to come join us in this special event.”
For more information about this event, contact Patti Blaxton at (870) 248-4181 or email her at Patti.Blaxton@blackrivertech.edu.