The nation will mark Juneteenth next Monday. It’s been a federal holiday for just a few years but in Hartford, the Amistad Center for Art and Culture has been marking this emancipation holiday for decades and they’re gearing up to do it again on Saturday, June 17.
At The Amistad Center for Art and Culture, celebrating the full story of African Americans has been the mission of this museum within a museum since 1987.
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WATCH HEREHoused inside the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in downtown Hartford, the center’s collection includes roughly 7,000 works of art and artifacts which chronicle all aspects of Black life in an effort to teach people of all colors about the Black experience through a rotation of changing exhibits, family events, artist talks and more.
“You can see an exhibition like the one we have Merik Goma, who's a New Haven-based African American photographer, he's on view now you can walk down the hall just a few steps and see European decorative art and walk down this few steps more and see Baroque paintings,” said Olivia White, interim executive director.
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SIGN UP On Saturday night, the Amistad Center’s signature celebration of Black history returns in-person at the museum for the first time since the pandemic.
Celebrating Juneteenth – when the nation’s last enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas learned they were free on June 19, 1865 - is something the center has done since well before the holiday became a national observance. They take pride in elevating for all to acknowledge, according to Paula Silas-Guy, an Amistad Center trustee.
“We created this holiday ourselves. We had to, you know, close to two and a half years, we didn't even know that we were free. That's a long, long time. And it was definitely worth celebrating," Silas-Guy said.
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Hundreds are set to fill the building for a night of music, arts and dancing, and honoring pillars in the CT community, in the 32nd annual celebration.
“For a long time, our celebration here, which was over three days, which was the gala family day in and brunch was the biggest celebration of Juneteenth outside of Texas,” said White.
“The openness to learning about African American history and American history that comes with Juneteenth is something that the Amistad Center wants to promote year-round. We want people to have respect for the African American experience and respect for diversity, you know, every 'Teenth' every month, not just February, and not just in June," White continued.
Learn more about the Amistad Center for Art and Culture here. Tickets for Hartford and Soul can be purchased here.
