Fifteen Black artists are teaming up with 1HoodMedia for an arts and culture celebration Friday on Pittsburgh’s North Side that’s one of several Juneteenth events in the region.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865 — the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news of the Emancipation Proclamation and slaves there learned they were free.

This is the first year Pittsburgh has celebrated the event as a city holiday, which will be marked on Friday this year. City offices and most facilities will be closed. Spray parks, pools and garbage collection won’t be impacted, the city said.

Friday also marks the kickoff of a 15-day WPA Juneteenth celebration at Point State Park that includes nationally-known recording artists and a full slate of events.

The 1HoodMedia celebration, “Art as Liberation,” will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Fridayat 320 Sampsonia Way. 1HoodMedia is a collective of Pittsburgh-based artists and activists.

Co-organizer Mikael Owunna, a Black artist based in Highland Park, said the event will be a showcase of African American art, along with free food, entertainment and a chance for people to create art of their own.

“It’s just really a great time celebrating the larger arts ecosystem in the city,” Owunna said.

Pittsburgh has a rich legacy of Black artists that include the photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris and celebrated playwright August Wilson, Owunna said.

1HoodMedia is partnering with City of Asylum, Orange Barrel Media and others, including Owunna, to put on the event at the City of Asylum venue. Brittany Chantele, JM the Poet and NLS Ron will perform and the work of 15 other artists will be exhibited, Owunna said.

Donations will also be accepted to benefit the Antwon Rose II Foundation. Rose, 17, was killed in 2018 in East Pittsburgh by police Officer Michael Rosfeld, who was acquitted of criminal charges in the case. Rose’s mother, Michelle Kenney, has become an advocate for police reform and formed the foundation last year.

At Point State Park, the WPA Juneteenth event runs June 18 through 27. Its organizers, Stop the Violence Pittsburgh, and the city are working out a dispute over a bill the city sent for public safety for the event, but city officials and B. Marshall of Stop the Violence Pittsburgh said the event will go on.

Hip-hop artist Rakim is among the headliners of the festival on Saturday.

A group of people in Westmoreland County have also organized a Juneteenth event to be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday in Greensburg’s St. Clair Park.

Owunna’s involvement with the Juneteenth event coincides with the launch of Infinite Essence: Celestial Liberation, a public art project showcasing his work on screens throughout the Pittsburgh region. The project starts Friday and runs through June 30 on digital billboards on Route 28 and at 10 bike stations throughout the city.

“This is a larger campaign around my work, which focuses on the Black body,” Owunna said.

This story was updated June 15 to indicate the 1HoodMedia event is Friday.

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