Join us for a Banned Books week conversation with renowned artist Xaviera Simmons, whose billboard artwork 'FREEDOM IS NOT GUARANTEED' is on view at the MLK Library this fall.

For Simmons, reading is the first step in making a new work, and access to information without barriers is critical to everyone's liberation. 

Simmons will be joined in conversation with Dr. Rhea L. Combs, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the National Portrait Gallery, to discuss how the artist’s billboards fit into her larger body of work. Following a presentation and discussion, audience members will have the chance to preview Reading Work: Season One, a new multi-year online project forthcoming this fall, produced and directed by Simmons with collaborators across the country.