“Diversity” will be the theme of the Gallery Talk by Georgette Norman, executive director of the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, at the Johnson Center for the Arts on Thursday night.

The Gallery Talk will begin at 6 p.m. and the public is invited to attend this free cultural event.

Norman is an excellent communicator and will use the Johnson Center’s African American quilt exhibit as a backdrop for her presentation, said Shadron Graham, assistant to the Center director. “Ms. Norman will use the quilts as metaphors for her discussion, which is a feature of the Johnson Center’s celebration of Black History month.”

Graham said the combination of the Norman presentation and the quilt exhibit will make the event informative and visually exciting.

“We’re fortunate to have Georgette Norman give a Gallery Talk that is enhanced by the African American quilt exhibit that includes 15 quilts on loan from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Kempf Hogan Collection,” he said.

Norman is a native of Montgomery.

She earned an undergraduate degree in history at Fisk University in Nashville and a master’s degree in education a Hampton Institute in Hampton, Va.

She founded the Alabama African-American Arts Alliance, a statewide organization and partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts in 1992.

She served as executive director of the organization for seven years.

In addition to serving as executive director of the Rosa Parks Museum, Norman also works as an independent consultant in the arts, education, program design and implementation and conducts workshops in creativity and cultural diversity.

Graham said Norman sees herself as an observer and active participant in life and believes her life to be her self-portrait – her masterpiece.

Everyone is invited to attend the Gallery Talk at the Johnson Center for the Arts on Feb. 11.

The Gallery Talk is one of several planned at the arts center.