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Juneteenth Celebration! Friday, June 17- Sunday, June 19
June 17, 2022 - June 19, 2022
Friday, June 17
Unveiling of mural by artist Frances Chlöe Jones-Whitman
AdLib Building, 215 North Street
2 to 3 pm
The Black Legacy Project Premiere Film Screening
The Colonial Theatre, 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 18
Unveiling Gathering of Rainbow Ruby
Mural Unveiling at College Way, 12 pm
Gathering at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 1 to 3 pm
Sunday, June 19
Juneteenth Celebration
Durant Park, 12 to 7 pm
music
dance
spoken word
child-friendly activities
basketball tournaments
food
vendors
These events are free and open to all!
More information:
Mural UnveilingsFriday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18Unveiling of mural by artist Frances Chlöe Jones-Whitman Friday, June 17, 2 to 3 pmAdlib Building, 215 North StreetThe Black Lives Matter Art Committee, a partnership between black community members, Artscape, and the City of Pittsfield, announces art installations to kick-off the Juneteenth Weekend.The weekend begins with the unveiling of a mural by artist Frances Chlöe Jones-Whitman on the south side of the Adlib Building at the corner of Columbus Avenue and North Street. The mural is a Mount Rushmore depiction featuring local legends in the black community including: W.E.B. Dubois, Elizabeth Freeman, Samuel Harrison, Agrippa Hull, Frances Jones-Sneed, James Van Der Zee, and Stephanie Wilson. The artist says that the mural is an homage to those who are past and presently doing great things and are a symbol of Black Excellence.Unveiling Gathering of Rainbow RubySaturday, June 18, 12 to 3 pmMural Unveiling at College Way at 12 pmGathering at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 1 to 3 pm
The Black Legacy Project Premiere Film ScreeningFriday, June 17, 7:30 pm at The Colonial Theatre, FREEThe Black Legacy Project is a musical celebration of Black history to advance racial solidarity, equity, and belonging. The Black LP is a national project produced by Berkshires nonprofit, Music in Common, in partnership with community stakeholders at the local level. As it travels the country, the Black LP brings together Black and White artists and artists of ALL backgrounds to record present day interpretations of songs central to the Black American experience and compose originals relevant to the pressing calls for change of our time. Community roundtable discussions help inform how these songs are interpreted and written.The Black Legacy Project launched in September 2021 in the Berkshires and will travel to Atlanta, Los Angeles, the Mississippi Delta, Denver, the Arkansas Ozarks, and Boise in 2022-2023. A docuseries of the project is being produced in partnership with Berkshire-based OUTPOST. The series kicks off with a premiere screening in the Berkshires in honor of Juneteenth that includes footage from the concert debut of the Project held at The Colonial Theatre in March 2022. The event will conclude with a community conversation about the Project.Click here to reserve your FREE tickets!
Juneteenth Collaborative Committee to Host Juneteenth Celebration Celebrating Black Independence DaySunday, June 19, 12 to 7 pmThe Juneteenth Collaborative Committee (consisting of NAACP Berkshire County Branch, Women of Color Giving Circle, Rites of Passage and Empowerment (ROPE), Westside Legends, Multicultural Bridge, Berkshire Black Economic Council, Saint John’s Lodge #10, Clinton Church Restoration, and Lift Every Voice!) will host its first annual Juneteenth Celebration on June 19th!Juneteenth, also known as Black Independence Day, is now a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. It is also often observed for celebrating African-American culture. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it has been celebrated annually on June 19th in various parts of the United States since 1865.The June 19th event is the new reimaging of the annual Gather In festival. It will be a celebration of freedom and a day filled with music, dance, spoken word, activities for the kids, basketball clinics, food, and vendors. There will be family-friendly activities including a bouncy house, a video game van, potato sack races, and art projects (sculpture and mural making) with Berkshire Art Center (formally IS-183), Railroad Street Youth Project, Manos Unidos, and TG’s Clubhouse. The first 200 kids to the festival will receive free ice cream, and until they run out, free lunch for all children under 13. There will be entertainment including MC Manfred Slaughter, the reading of the proclamation by Sadiya Quetti, and performances including a spoken word from Dre Finley, African drumming with Jerome Edgerton, and musical performances with singers Wanda L. Houston, Chantell McFarland, Samirah Evans, pianist Kaz Smith, and all the way from New York City, Acute Inflections, the sultry musical duo of a former Broadway singer and her 007 on bass. This event is free and open to all.
