Programs
Inspiring Connection Through Art and Culture
Art transforms lives—and so does Hammonds House Museum. We invite you to explore a place where creativity, culture, and community unite in exciting and meaningful ways!
Artist: Radcliffe Bailey
Discover Dynamic Programs at Hammonds House Museum:
For Families:
Create lasting memories through hands-on workshops, interactive gallery tours, and activities that ignite imagination across generations.
For Schools & Educators:
Bring art and history to life with innovative curriculum guides, immersive field trips, and collaborative learning projects tailored to classroom needs.
For Art Enthusiasts:
Fuel your passion with engaging artist talks, panel discussions, and exclusive backstage access to the creative process.
For Art Professionals:
Advance your practice through networking, curated professional development, and opportunities to collaborate with leading voices in the field.
For Collectors:
Deepen your connection to Black art through curated exhibitions, collector forums, and special events celebrating legacy and vision.
Celebrate creativity. Foster meaningful connections. Build a vibrant community—here and beyond our walls.
Your journey into art and culture begins at Hammonds House Museum, where every voice, every vision, and every visitor truly matters.
Public Engagement Programs
Curator–Artist Panel with Special Guest Diva – Diva Spotlight: Buttons, Blues & Backstage Truths
Saturday, April 18, 2026 | 1:30 pm - 3:30pm
Join curator Souleo, artist Beau McCall, and the Artistic Director for a dynamic conversation about how buttons and photo-collages on metal transform everyday fabrics and personal archives into tributes to divas and blues emotion. McCall will discuss his punk–drag past, his evolution as “The Button Man,” and how his luminous metal photo-collages capture queer underground influences and wearable art's social justice themes. A legendary diva guest will speak about performance, identity, and the emotional power of blues and diva culture in LGBTQ+ liberation and Black artistic expression, followed by audience Q&A.
Button Ball
Saturday, May 16, 2026 | 6 pm - 9:30pm
Button Ball is a high-energy dance party inspired by the exhibition Beau McCall: Divas, Blues, and Memories at Hammonds House Museum. The event transforms the museum into a vibrant, music-filled space where guests are invited to dress up, channel their inner divas, and dance the night away in celebration of the sounds and styles that shape the show.
Throughout the evening, attendees can move between the dance floor and the galleries, experiencing Beau McCall’s dazzling button-encrusted works while enjoying a soundtrack that echoes the exhibition’s themes of memory, glamour, and the blues. Button Ball is designed as a joyful, immersive night out—blending art, fashion, and community into one unforgettable celebration.
Artist Talk: Inside “Beau McCall: Divas, Blues, and Memories”
Saturday, February 14, 2026 | 1pm - 3pm
Join Artistic Director Halima Taha, artist Beau McCall, and curator Souleo for an electrifying conversation that pulls back the curtain on Beau McCall: Divas, Blues, and Memories. This panel explores how buttons, blues, and divas come together to tell fiercely personal yet deeply collective stories of Black style, queer resilience, and memory.
Guided by Halima Taha, the discussion traces McCall’s journey from his early punk–drag and underground nightlife influences to his emergence as “The Button Man,” revealing how his intricate metal photo-collages and button-laden works transform everyday materials into monuments for unsung legends and beloved communities. Souleo unpacks the curatorial vision behind the exhibition—how image, sound, and narrative intertwine to honor divas as cultural archivists, the blues as an emotional language, and wearable art as a form of social commentary.
Together, the trio reflects on grief and celebration, intimacy and spectacle, and the power of Black queer creativity to turn vulnerability into radiance. Audience members will be invited into the conversation through a moderated Q&A, leaving with a deeper understanding of how McCall’s practice reimagines adornment as testimony, and how Hammonds House is positioning this exhibition as a touchstone for dialogue about performance, memory, and Black futures.
Beau McCall: Divas, Blues, and Memories
February 13 - June 28, 2026
Like a mixtape layered with rhythm, recollection, and reverence, Beau McCall: Divas, Blues, and Memories invites us into a world where music and memory converge—where love, loss, and celebration coexist in lyrical harmony. Curated by Souleo, this exhibition stands as both a tribute and a reckoning, revealing how art and sound can hold the weight of history while still shimmering with joy.
Through McCall's collages and button-laden creations, visitors feel the pulse of communities that found freedom and family on the dance floor, in the recording studio, and in each other's arms. His Diva Worship series exalts the transformative power of performance—the divas whose voices gave courage to those on the margins and who, in turn, became mirrors of queer resilience and beauty. In REWIND: Memories on Repeat, McCall turns nostalgia into narrative, using the language of collage to honor friendships lost to time and celebrate the life force that music preserved in their memory, while the Blue series channels the emotional depth of the blues, echoing artists like Billie Holiday who taught the world that vulnerability could sing.
Souleo's curatorial lens amplifies this interplay between personal story and collective history, drawing out the symphony within McCall's practice—how music becomes material, how memory becomes melody. Together, artist and curator orchestrate a space that transcends genre or era; a place where visitors are invited not only to look, but to feel, listen, and remember. Ultimately, Divas, Blues, and Memories is a celebration of the indomitable spirit that art and music embody—a testament to the way creativity transforms pain into poetry, loss into legacy, and rhythm into healing
