Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), “Breakfast Table Political Argument,” 1948. Cover illustration for “The Saturday Evening Post,” October 30, 1948. Norman Rockwell Museum Digital Collections. As featured in the exhibition, “Norman Rockwell’s 323 ‘Saturday Evening Post’ Covers.” ©SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.

Stockbridge, MA, January 15, 2014— Norman Rockwell Museum’s Four Freedoms Forum series returns on Thursday, January 23, at 5:30 p.m., with a look at divisions in American politics, and how to get past the impasse. Featured speakers will include James A. Arpante, Professor of Business, History and Government at Berkshire Community College; Jim Bronson, Chairman of the Berkshire County Republican Association; Dr. Alan Chartock, President and CEO of WAMC Northeast Public Radio; and Sheila Murray, Chairwoman for The Berkshire Brigades. Community conversation at the Four Freedoms Forums is free and open to the public.

About Four Freedoms Forums:
Town Hall Meetings at the Norman Rockwell Museum

Join us to share your thoughts on the most compelling issues of our day. This series of Town Hall conversations inspired by Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” paintings will explore aspects of our democracy and important social concerns in a rapidly changing and increasingly global world. Noted commentators will offer observations and inspire community discourse, with a reception to follow.

The tradition of Town Hall meetings has it roots in the founding of our nation where small New England communities would gather to invite citizen opinion and vote on matters of importance to the town. A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government.

The Four Freedoms Forums are free and open to the public.