MLK Day Event in La Grange To Include March Across Town
The Juneteenth Committee is pleased to announce the Martin Luther King Jr. Day program on Monday, Jan. 17. Those who are able will meet at the Fayette County Courthouse grounds at noon and walk in solidarity to the Fayette Public Library Gazebo for a short ceremony. The program will feature music by Debra Stewart as well as words from Mayor Jan Dockery and Marie Watts, local writer and historian. The group will then move to the N.W. Faison House across the street to learn about its African American history. All members of the community are encouraged to attend.
FAISON HOUSE ARTISTS OF COLOR ART SHOW
The N.W. Faison House is pleased to announce an art show featuring artists of color on Monday, Jan. 17, from 1-3 p.m. The headline artist is the world-renown African-American primitive folk artist Dorothy Shelby. The show is being held in conjunction with the MLK program sponsored by the Juneteenth Committee.
“Ms. Shelby is an extraordinary woman,” Marie Watts, Vice President of the Faison Preservation Society, said. Besides living her childhood dream of being an artist, she is a wife, mother, grand and great grandmother, author, singer/songwriter, and pastor. What’s fun is that she puts herself in most of the paintings as the little girl in the red dress.
Shelby did not pick up a brush and acrylic paint until August 2008, at age 64.
Her art depicting childhood memories of Industry, Texas is known worldwide. She has been judged into many large shows and placed in galleries across the country. In 2018 her work was showcased in the African American Museum.
The MLK ceremony begins at noon with a Walk of Unity from the Fayette County Courthouse to the Fayette County Library Gazebo for a short program. The group will then move across the street to the N.W. Faison House to learn about its African American history and view the artwork.
The N.W. Faison House, located at 822 South Jefferson, La Grange, Texas is on the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of recognition.