MLK Day 2026 - Chaos or Community

Hyde Park Art Center proudly presents a free public Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration MLK DAY 2026: CHAOS OR COMMUNITY on Monday, January 19, from 11 AM – 4 PM at 5020 South Cornell Avenue. Eclectic programming for all ages blends live music, thought-provoking film, artmaking, and meditation, to highlight art as a vessel for collective memory, liberation, and joy, while reflecting on Dr. King’s profound impact on social justice and cultural movements. Registration is recommended at HydeParkArt.org.

“Chaos or Community” is drawn from Dr. King’s final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967). Written during the last years of his life, the book captures Dr. King’s most visionary and radical thinking. In it, he reflects on the progress and challenges of the Civil Rights Movement and asks whether society will continue down a path of chaos—marked by racism, poverty, and war—or choose community, a future grounded in justice, equity, and love.

This year’s celebration takes inspiration from Dr. King’s enduring call, transforming his question into a day of art, reflection, and action—a collective reminder that liberation is both a personal practice and a communal act of creation.

Event Highlights:

11:00 – 11:30 AM | Meditation + Opening CeremonyCamille Smith facilitates a grounding session of breath and stillness to open the day. This collective meditation honors rest as resistance and sets the tone for a day of reflection and renewal.

11:30 AM – 2:00 PM | Community Artmaking Activities 

Malika Jackson leads a screen-printing session from 12:00 – 2:00 PM, for participants to print and take home a limited-edition design by Jackson celebrating unity, resilience, and collective creativity. From 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, Rhonda Wheatley collaborates with community members to create “Ephemeral Mural,” a large-scale, mixed-media mural using recycled and found materials, and Veronica Casado Hernández leads a collage portrait workshop “Radical Dreams: The Collage of Us” for families and young artists to create portraits of friends, family, or pets using colorful, playful materials, in celebration of individuality, joy, and belonging.

12:00 - 12:30 PM | Exhibition Tour: Mutuality

The 2025 Center Program cohort of artists leads a guided tour of their exhibition Mutuality, exploring care, reciprocity, and interconnection in artistic practice.

1:00 – 1:45 PM | Performance by Amari AmaiI Heard The Voice is a performance in honor of King's distinct poetic voice that swelled the calmest streams and quelled the most ferocious despair. Using storytelling, dance, hymns, soundscapes and projection, Amai will take the audience on a journey through the 1968 West Side riots following King's assassination in hopes of landing on sweeter mountaintops of collective healing, release, and renewed joy

1:45 – 2:15  PM | Music Performance by AACM

The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) will present new works, creative music ensembles, and intergenerational performance that honors King’s enduring legacy through sound, reflection, and community engagement.

2:30 – 3:15  | The Treehouse Listening Party with Willow James

An intimate listening experience rooted in Afrofuturist principles of rest and dreaming. This special edition of The Treehouse centers on Dr. King’s late writings—his opposition to the Vietnam War, his rethinking of integration, and his book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? 

Guests are invited to bring snacks, tea, or simply their presence to rest and reflect together.

3:00 – 4:00 PM | "Making The Short Documentary" workshop 

HPAC and Pentimenti Productions present a short film profiling the inaugural Resilience Arts Festival.  A collaboration between the Mud Theatre Project and the Chicago Torture Justice Center held in Hyde Park in October, the four-day arts and theatre festival focused on the human experience of people impacted by the criminal legal system. The student-made film explores themes of incarceration, re-entry, and healing.

Why Attend?

This event is more than a celebration; it’s an opportunity to engage with Dr. King’s legacy through the lens of contemporary art and culture. Whether you’re exploring new perspectives through film, finding joy in collaborative art-making, or being moved by powerful live performances, Chaos or Community promises to inspire and unite our community.

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

Join us as we honor Dr. King’s vision and explore the transformative power of art in shaping a brighter future for all.

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Host or Publisher Hyde Park Art Center