Take a visual walk through history and explore distinguished artist Jacob Lawrence’s fascinating work in The Toussaint L’Ouverture Series. Each monumental piece in the 41-image series is a study in personal and communal identity, depicting various heroic stories and themes and heavily influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. The series’ paintings were created between 1936 and 1938 and focus on L’Ouverture’s feats in attaining the emancipation of Haiti from European control. Lawrence’s style is both simple and profound, and each piece challenges its viewer to imagine living in a world where basic freedoms aren’t a given right. The show opens today at the Cleveland Museum of Art and runs through Jan. 4, 2015. (Trenholme)