Norman Rockwell Museum

Four Freedoms Exhibition at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia My week in Addis Ababa ended on a celebratory note with the opening of the Four Freedoms exhibition at the U.S. Embassy on Entoto Road. About 250 people attended the opening, many of them the artists who submitted works. They were eager to learn [...]

Addis Ababa University is located in the heart of the city off the main boulevard in the former palace of Emperor Haile Selassie. Students roam the campus with backpacks in an assortment of universal student attire from the uniform blue jeans and tee-shirts to traditional Ethiopian dress of infinite color and variety. With limited dormitory [...]

The State Department of the United States of America is actively using cultural diplomacy as a strategy for building bridges with cultures and nations around the world. Ambassador Donald Booth and his wife, retired foreign service officer, Anita Booth, live in a home called Roosevelt House and learned that 2011 was the 70th anniversary of President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms. This inspired the idea to hold an art competition for Ethiopian Artists to render their interpretations of the Four Freedoms today in Ethiopia.

This morning I gave a talk to arts professional of Addis Ababa. About 50 museum directors and curators, theatre, music and other arts professionals and professors attended to participate in my workshop, “Sustaining Visual Arts organizations – Engaging Audiences, Resources and Professional Practice.” They were interested in professional standards, in marketing and resource development. What became immediately apparent was they this was something of a first in all coming together as a community.