Juneteenth Cincinnati

Home of Cincinnati’s Annual Juneteenth Festival

Voices of Freedom Art & Artists  2022

Juneteenth Cincinnati commissioned new works by 10 artists and 10 poets exploring the promise and reality of “freedom” as experienced by those whose lives and destinies were touched by emancipation. Each artist created his or her graphic impression, which was then interpreted by a poet.
Their work was exhibited at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center in February and March, 2022, accompanied by four evening cabaret sessions at the Art Center.

They will also be exhibited at the 2022 Cincinnati Juneteenth Festival.

Each of the images heree is linked to a recording of the poet’s live presentation to a very engaged and enthusiastic audience at the Arts Center.
Curated by Michael Coppage (visual art) and MoPoetry Phillips (poetry).

This project has been  made possible by American Rescue Plan funds from the City of Cincinnati, administered through ArtsWave and in collaboration with the Kennedy Heights Arts Center and the Cincinnati Art Museum.


Outer limits by Desmond Beach
A Culture of Freedom by Blake Pierre
Solicited Colour by Dave McClinton
Through the Eyes of Others by Jeni Jenkins
DNA Resotration and Repair II 64 Codes embedded by Komika Patton
When The See Us--Picaninny Freeae Too by Fatima Laster
The Messenger by Vitus Shell
Outside the Cave by Michael Thompson
Fine and Pretty Things by Kierston Ghaznavi
The Irony of the Four Freedoms by Mark Anthony Brown, Jr.