Dreams of Freedom — "Michael Richards: Are You Down?" book celebration

Step into an afternoon of art, memory, and making at Franconia Sculpture Park on Saturday, April 18 from 1–5pm. This immersive program unfolds as a journey—beginning with a warm welcome into the park’s expansive landscape, moving into a live podcast conversation, Dreams of Freedom—Michael Richards: Are You Down? book celebration, featuring authors and curators Melissa Levin and Alex Fialho in dialogue with Lissa Jones-Lofgren and MN-based independent curator Esther Callahan. Together, they will reflect on the life and legacy of Michael Richards, tracing themes of flight, diaspora, Blackness, spirituality, and resistance that continue to resonate today. Following the conversation, audiences are invited to deepen their engagement through a Q&A and an informal reception with a tour of Richards’s sculpture Are You Down?, before transitioning into a hands-on community art experience led by Mudluk—offering participants the chance to create, reflect, and connect through clay. Richards’s artwork Are You Down?—Franconia Sculpture Park’s only permanent sculpture—is a bronze recast of a large-scale sculpture engaging the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen that was originally displayed during Richards’s fellowship at the park in 2000. This is more than a talk—it’s a layered experience of listening, making, and being in community. Join us as we honor Michael Richards’s legacy while building new pathways for connection and creative expression. 1:00–2:30 p.m. “Dreams of Freedom—Michael Richards: Are You Down?” This live podcast recording will be a conversation with authors Melissa Levin and Alex Fialho and curator Esther Callahan in dialogue with Lissa Jones, Host of Black Market Reads. 2:30-5:00 p.m. Mudluk Handbuilding Take time to handbuild your very own sculpture inspired by Michael Richards’s dreams of freedom. Is it a feather, a wing, or an airplane? This is an opportunity to continue the conversation while getting your hands dirty. The first 50 handbuilders receive this experience (including glaze and fire) free of charge; the cost is $10/person after the first 50 are served.