On a chilly January afternoon, members of the Columbia community bundled up and gathered at the Columbia Museum of Art. Whether they were dancing in the lobby, collected in the loft listening to storytellers or learning about Black artists featured in the museum, each visitor was there for one purpose: to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Columbia Museum of Art (CMA) opened its doors to all audiences free of charge.
To commemorate Martin Luther King Jr Day, museum affinity group Friends of African American Arts and Culture (FAAAC) held its fifth annual Storytelling Celebration, featuring five orators. In addition to the celebration, The FAAAC hosted two museum tours and line dancing.
The FAAAC aims to expand conversation, knowledge and experiences that surround the Black community, FAAAC board member Kinnethia Tolson said.
“There were some really amazing people who founded … this particular board, wanting to highlight contributions made by Black Americans that have (contributed) to art that would be shown or displayed within the museum,” Kinnethia Tolson said. “And it expanded very quickly to creating programming around that as well.”
The Storytelling Celebration at the Columbia Museum of Art (CMA) began in 2021 with Kinnethia’s mother, Nancy Tolson, who is Director of Undergraduate Studies and was a FAAAC board member. Nancy Tolson shared four stories along with fellow storyteller Elsie White while CMA associate director of engagement Wilson Bame live streamed them online .
With each passing year, the event consistently grew, Kinnethia Tolson said.
In the third year of the Storytelling Celebration, the FAAAC hosted the Storytelling Celebration in the auditorium due to the jam-packed crowd, Nancy Tolson said.
“Wilson thought it would be cute to bring the kids up on the stage, which it was,” Nancy Tolson said. “They were another part of my props, because they were talking, I would talk back to them while I'm telling the story.”
Kinnethia Tolson said that Nancy Tolson is an animated speaker who engages her audience well.
“She is a storyteller and one who holds oral tradition very near and dear to her heart, along with several others in the community,” Kinnethia Tolson said.
This year, the Storytelling Celebration was hosted in the Loft of the CMA, seating around 300 people, Nancy Tolson said.
The FAAAC added line dancing to MLK day in 2024. This is where Kinnethia said she comes in. She is a soul line dancer, which features a variety of footwork, stomps and claps set to R&B and Hip-Hop music. Kinnethia Tolson said line dancing is another way the community can show up in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and in commemoration of the Civil Rights movement.
“You can show up to show your resilience and show your desire for change or desire for impact through dance, and you can do the same thing with storytelling,” Kinnethia said. “So it's really cool to be able to have those two components.”
A group of ladies line dance at the Martin Luther Jr. Day Line Dancing Event at the Boyd Plaza on Jan. 20, 2025. The Columbia Museum of Art hosted a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day program for many to attend on their day off to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
Visitor Amber Edward's came to the CMA to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, something shevalued during current political division, she said.
"I figured it would be a nice thing to come in and see exactly what events (were) going on here and to see the art," Edward's said. "It's absolutely a wonderful museum."
This year, the FAAAC also sponsored two tours of the CMA, honoring the Black artists featured in the museum. These were the last tours to occur before the CMA closed. The CMA will open once more with an exhibit of Samuel Gilliam, a Black abstract artist, Nancy Tolson said.
Nancy Tolson gave both tours alongside curator Sadé Ayorinde, who plans and organizes the museum's exhibits, Kinnethia Tolson said. Nancy Tolson said it is important for the FAAAC to push and promote the Black art in the CMA because of the assumption that the majority of the best artists are white men.
“So it's the getting the twistedness, removing that from people's minds, and opening it up, especially when it comes to abstract (art),” Nancy Tolson said. “Because they believe ‘Oh, abstract, that can't be a Black artist.’ Yeah, it can.”
CMA Affinities manager, Katie Monroe, said it’s important for the CMA to showcase the extraordinary work of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the tradition of Black storytelling.
“(FAAAC) is just such a vibrant group,” Monroe said. “And being able to have the privilege of attending board meetings with them and helping them kind of bring their vision to life for all of their events has just been one of the most fulfilling aspects of this role for me, and I'm so excited that I get to support them in this way.”
FAAAC's next event is Feb. 15 FAAAC Presents Black Art Pokeno, in celebration of Black History Month.