The Education and Public Engagement team invites visitors to Calm Morning with Academy Award-winning filmmaker and author Matthew A. Cherry.  

First, explore galleries in the museum’s Stories of Cinema exhibition including Story, The Art of Moviemaking: The Wizard of Oz, Identity, and Inventing Worlds and Characters. Next, visit the Shirley Temple Education Studio for a special story time reading of the children’s book Hair Love (2019) read by Cherry. Stay for a closed-caption screening of the Academy Award-winning animated short of the same name and a short Q&A session. In addition to the Calm Morning program, attendees are invited to attend our accommodative screening of Soul (2020) at 11am in the Ted Mann Theater. A separate admission ticket is required. 

Visitors can also join us at noon for a book signing with Cherry. This separate ticket includes a copy of Hair Love. Receive $5 off when tickets to Calm Morning and the book signing are purchased in the same transaction.

Calm Mornings create an environment for all visitors to enjoy less-sensory-stimulating spaces with moderated sound and lighting displays. Museum staff will be available to suggest areas for self-guided exploration and play before the museum’s opening hours. Museum educators will be available for guided Gallery Highlight experiences that are interactive and adaptable to many learning styles.  

Schedule

9–10am
Calm Morning Early Gallery Access

10–10:30am
Session 1: Drop-in story time and short film screening of Hair Love (2019)

10:30–11am
Session 2: Drop-in story time and short film screening of Hair Love (2019) 

11am–12:30 pm
Film Screening of Soul (2020)

Noon–1pm
Book Signing with Matthew A. Cherry

Matthew A. Cherry
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry is a Chicago native and a former NFL wide receiver who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers, and Baltimore Ravens. His animated short film, Hair Love (2019), follows the relationship of an African American father, his daughter, and her hair. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2020. Hair Love was also adapted into a picture book for Penguin Random House. Upon its release in May 2019, it became a New York Times Bestseller and earned nominations for a Goodreads Choice Award and an NAACP Image Award. Cherry is currently in production on his first animated series, the Hair Love spin-off, Young Love with HBO Max.  

In 2020, Cherry was listed as one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business and one of Fortune's 40 Under 40 in Media and Entertainment. In addition to previously consulting for MonkeyPaw and executive producing Spike Lee’s highly acclaimed BlacKkKlansman (2018), Cherry has also directed multiple episodes of television, including for shows Black-ish, Saved by the Bell, Abbott Elementary, and Kings of Napa. He is also an accomplished music video director, having directed videos for artists including Michelle Williams, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg, and Common. At the 2015 Stellar Gospel Music Awards, Cherry took home the Music Video of the Year award for Michelle William's “Say Yes.” 

If you have any questions or need assistance planning your visit, please email museumeducation@oscars.org. 

Academy Museum accessibility initiatives are made possible in part by the Ruderman Family Foundation. This program is also made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.