PEM February School Vacation Week

Peabody Essex Museum invites kids and families for days of fun and engaging events and activities during February vacation week!  Come to the Museum Come join us for a week of exploration into our relationship with nature and discover new ways to become a steward of the earth.  There will be drop in art activities, collaborative art projects, multisensory tours, artist demonstrations and more! The museum hosts a weeklong celebration (10am - 4pm daily) of Black History Month and the exhibition 'Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle' through family-friendly art making, music and storytelling. All programs are included with admission.

Monday, February 17 | Holiday Monday |

• DROP-IN FAMILY STORYTIME | 10:30am - 11:30am | Main Atrium
  • PEM Pals: Parker Looks Up
    • Four-year-old Parker Curry was transformed by her encounter with Amy Sherald’s portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama at the National Portrait Gallery. This extraordinary museum moment has been captured in a delightful book written by Parker and her mom, Jessica Curry, with illustrations by Brittany Jackson. Designed for toddlers and their caregivers, PEM Pals is a storytime program that includes movement, singing, and art making.
• DROP-IN ART MAKING | 1pm - 2pm | Main Atrium
  • Story Trails: Jake Makes a World
    • Jake has just moved to New York City, where he’s greeted by new people, new sights and new sounds in his new neighborhood of Harlem. To make sense of it all, he turns to art. Inspired by the childhood of artist Jacob Lawrence, Jake Makes a World will help you find inspiration in everyday things! After a reading of the story, create a paper collage portrait mask just like young Jake does in the book.

Tuesday, February 18

• DROP-IN ART MAKING | 11am - noon | Main Atrium
  • Story Trails: Jake Makes a World
  • See Monday description.
• GALLERY POP-UP
  • Freestyle Cipher with Wreck Shop, featuring Big Brotha Sadi
    • Make your voice heard with local artist collective Wreck Shop Movement. Wreck Shop aims to empower people by creating community through hip hop and spoken word. Witness the performance of local artist Big Brotha Sadi. Then, move into the exhibition to experience a freestyle “cipher,” a performance circle of improvised rhyming, responding to stories of struggle in the work of Jacob Lawrence. Let the power of words inspire you to stand with the artists and participate in the cipher!
  • Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle | 1pm-2:30pm

Wednesday, February 19

• DROP-IN FAMILY STORYTIME | 10:30am - 11:30am | Main Atrium
  • PEM Pals: Black is a Rainbow Color
    • Angela Joy’s Black is a Rainbow Color is a rhythmic celebration of Black culture and Black History, accompanied by colorful illustrations by Ekua Holmes, an award-winning artist from Roxbury, MA. Designed for toddlers and their caregivers, PEM Pals is a storytime program that includes movement, singing, and art making.
• DROP-IN WORKSHOP | 1pm-2pm | Main Atrium
  • Castle of Our Skins: A Little History
    • Castle of Our Skins is a concert and educational series dedicated to celebrating Black artistry, history and heritage through music. In this workshop, artistic director and violist Ashleigh Gordon weaves music, poetry, storytelling and audience interaction into a fun-filled exploration of both unsung and celebrated figures of past and present.
• DROP-IN WORKSHOP | 2pm-3pm | Create Space
  • Wee Wear the Crowns: Celebrate Black Identity & Creativity
    • Join Boston-based social justice project Wee the People for a two-part workshop celebrating black identity, creativity, and cultural expression. Explore the lives and contemporary art of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Nina Chanel Abney, two artists whose revolutionary work champions Black lives, celebrates resistance, and radicalizes mainstream art spaces. Then, dive into their own art-making activity with Identity Collages, creating collages that reflect and celebrate Black culture, circles of community, and kids’ hopes for change in the world.
• DROP-IN BOOKMAKING | 11am-3pm | Create Space
  • Publish Your Voice with 826 Boston
    • 826 Boston is building communities of young writers by empowering students to share their stories through bookmaking and literacy workshops. In collaboration with middle school students from Roxbury, write your own ending to a story inspired by Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle. Illustrate and bind your book in this workshop, then take a copy home with you!

Thursday, February 20

• DROP-IN BOOKMAKING | 11am-3pm | Create Space
  • Publish Your Voice with 826 Boston
    • See Wednesday description.
• DROP-IN ART MAKING | 11am - noon | Main Atrium
  • Story Trails: Jake Makes a World
    • See Monday description.
• GALLERY POP-UP
  • Freestyle Ciphers with Wreck Shop, featuring Shalom the Poet
    • Make your voice heard with local artist collective Wreck Shop Movement. Wreck Shop aims to empower people by creating community through hip hop and spoken word. Witness the performance of local artist Big Brotha Sadi. Then, move into the exhibition to experience a freestyle “cipher,” a performance circle of improvised rhyming, responding to stories of struggle in the work of Jacob Lawrence. Let the power of words inspire you to stand with the artists and participate in the cipher!
  • 1pm-2:30pm | Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle

Friday, February 21

• DROP-IN BOOKMAKING
  • Publish Your Voice with 826 Boston | 11am-3pm | Create Space
    • See Wednesday description.
• WORKSHOPS
  • Castle of Our Skins: A Little History | 1pm-2pm | Main Atrium
    • See Wednesday description.
  • Syncopated Ladies | 2:30pm-3:45pm | East India Marine Hall (TBD)
    • Join internet tap dance sensations Syncopated Ladies for a fresh new perspective on working together while expressing your individuality with movement and musicality. Attendees will build from the basic steps up to improvisational “conversations” with each other, then learn a simple routine under the master guidance of Syncopated Ladies Anissa Lee and Assata Madison. No experience or tap shoes required; sneakers or hard sole shoes recommended.