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The Contemporary Jewish Museum will attempt to turn publicity lemons into lemonade by hosting a "Hand Holding Day" on Sunday July 24th.

Last week, a museum guard reprimanded a lesbian couple who were visiting a Gertrude Stein exhibit for holding hands. An angry crowd gathered and the guard was asked to leave by museum officials shortly thereafter. The museum then asked the company the guard worked for to penalize him, and issued a letter of apology to the couple involved, their staff and board members.

The museum announced the hand holding event in a press release today. From the release:

The morning features several previously scheduled activities just for families with young children in conjunction with the current Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories exhibition including special art-making activities, tours of the exhibition, and performances by the SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, the Voices Lesbian Choral Ensemble, and Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco. The LGBT Family Morning of Stein takes place 9 AM to 12 PM and is appropriate for young children (preschool through nine years old) and their families. All families are welcome, and youth 18 and under are always free.

Later that day, loved ones can hold hands as they enjoy a special free performance by actress Laura Sheppard entitled Paris Portraits: Stories of Picasso, Matisse, Gertrude Stein and their Circle, her one-woman show based on the new memoir of Gertrude Stein by Harriet Levy from Heyday Books. The 30-minute performance starts at 2 PM and is followed by a conversation with Sheppard and historians Frances Dinkelspiel and Fred Rosenbaum.

News also broke this morning that the museum’s director, Connie Wolf, will be leaving her post to head Stanford’s Cantor Center for the Visual Arts.