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Museum Reads – “Orla’s Canvas”

September 21, 2023 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

A book group especially for art enthusiasts.

Welcome to Museum Reads, the Newport Art Museum’s Art-Themed book group for adults. We meet monthly, at the Museum and virtually, for discussion, and frequently are joined by the author. 

This Month we’ll be discussing: “Orla’s Canvas” by Mary Donnarumma Sharnick.

We are delighted to share that author Mary Donnarumma Sharnick will be joining us in person for our discussion!

Narrated by eleven-year-old Orla Gwen Gleason, Orla’s Canvas opens on Easter Sunday, in St. Suplice, Louisiana, a “misspelled town” north of New Orleans, and traces Orla’s dawning realization that all is not as it seems in her personal life or in the life of her community. The death of St. Suplice’s doyenne, Mrs. Bellefleur Dubois Castleberry, for whom Orla’s mother keeps house, reveals Orla’s true paternity, shatters her trust in her beloved mother, and exposes her to the harsh realities of class and race in the Civil Rights-era South. When the Klan learns of Mrs. Castleberry’s collaboration with the local Negro minister and Archbishop Rummel to integrate the parochial school, violence fractures St. Suplice’s vulnerable stability. The brutality Orla witnesses at summer’s end awakens her to life’s tenuous fragility. Like the South in which she lives, she suffers the turbulence of changing times. Smart, resilient, and fiercely determined to make sense of her pain, Orla paints chaos into beauty, documenting both horror and grace, discovering herself at last through her art.

“Taking as her canvas the Civil Rights era in Louisiana, Mary Donnarumma Sharnick tells the affecting story of Orla, a remarkable young heroine with the soul of an artist. The novel is both a gripping look into a historic moment in American culture and a poignant coming-of-age story readers won’t forget.” – Chantel Acevedo, author of The Distant Marvels.

Museum Reads is FREE for Museum Members and only $5 for non-members. It is held in-person at the museum, and also virtually. Be sure to register (via the link below) to receive email updates and Zoom links. For last minute registrations, please call the front desk for the Zoom link at 401-848-8200.

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Details

Date:
September 21, 2023
Time:
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Event Category:
Website:
https://newportartmuseum.org/events/orlas-canvas/

Organizer

Newport Art Museum
Phone
4018488200
Email
hello@newportartmuseum.org
View Organizer Website

Venue

Newport Art Museum
76 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840 United States
+ Google Map
Phone
4018488200
View Venue Website