A collaboration of Syracuse Stage, ArtRage Gallery and SUNY Oswego and its Metro Center will key on the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery, the aftermath of apartheid and recent searing national events in order to frame a community-wide series of arts presentations and conversations about race and identity starting in February.

Banners on loan from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, featuring the award-winning work of civil rights-era photographer Matt Herron, will help interlace a multi-venue series of presentations collectively titled “race.place.being”: Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona’s play “Sizwe Bansi Is Dead” at Syracuse Stage, a reception and exhibition at SUNY Oswego Metro Center in Syracuse, Herron’s historic civil rights photographs at ArtRage on Hawley Avenue, and a host of other events at the theater, gallery and on campus in Oswego.

ArtRage Gallery will display six of the banners during its exhibition of Herron’s photographs from Feb. 7 to March 28. “Sizwe Banzi Is Dead” will run Feb. 25 to March 15, with a lobby display that includes two banners. And SUNY Oswego Metro Center will play host to a Feb. 19 reception to launch the exhibition-in-chief of nine of the banners, showcasing them through March 28 in the Atrium on Clinton Square, at the SUNY Oswego Phoenix Center and in Oswego.

The calendar for “race.place.being.” — online at www.oswego.edu/race-place-being — continues to develop, with an array of events around the three main presentations:

* Feb. 7 thru March 28, 2015, “Selma to Montgomery March at 50: Civil Rights Photographs by Matt Herron.” A Rochester native, Herron’s powerful photographs during pivotal civil rights milestones, helped focus global attention on the political and personal impact of racist segregation. More info on ArtRage events at http://artragegallery.org/cat/artrage-events-events.

* Feb. 19, 5 to 8 p.m.: Opening reception, free and open to the public, of the exhibition titled “Apartheid and Identity” at the SUNY Oswego Metro Center and its branch of Tyler Art Gallery, in the Atrium Building on Clinton Square. Information about SUNY Oswego Metro Center in Syracuse may be found at www.oswego.edu/metro.

* Feb. 27, 8 p.m.: Opening night performance at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., for “Sizwe Banzi Is Dead,” directed by co-creator and Tony award inner John Kani. In the play, an intensely funny and poignant drama exploring the universal struggle for human dignity, a black man in apartheid-era South Africa tries to overcome oppressive work regulations to support his family. The Syracuse Stage production originated in South Africa’s legendary Market Theatre before moving to Princeton, New Jersey, then here. Following this performance, audience members are invited to attend the opening night party in the lobby to mingle with the cast, and enjoy free food and live music. For ticket information, visit www.syracusestage.org