President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and the rest of the White House staff are preparing to host its first-ever will Juneteenth concert next week to celebrate the new federal holiday honoring “community, culture and music.”
The much anticipated concert will take place on the South Lawn of the White House and will include performances by entertainment A-listers including singers, actors and even HBCU bands.
In 2021, President Biden signed bipartisan legislation establishing Juneteenth as the nation’s newest Federal holiday, so that all Americans can feel the power of this day, learn from our history, celebrate our progress, and recognize and engage in the work that continues.
President Biden has worked to advance racial equity and ensure the promise of America for Black Americans. The concert celebration will also take place during Black Music Month, where the Biden-Harris Administration will uplift American art forms that sing to the soul of the American experience.
Confirmed appearances will be made by the following artists:
Audra McDonald
Broadway Inspirational Voices
Cliff “Method Man” Smith
Colman Domingo
Fisk Jubilee Singers
Hampton University Concert Choir
Jennifer Hudson
Ledisi
Maverick City Music
Morgan State University Marching Band – The Magnificent Marching Machine
Nicco Annan
Patina Miller
Step Afrika!
Tennessee State University Marching Band – Aristocrat of Bands
“The President’s Own” United States Marine Band
Juneteenth finally became a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in June 2021. The initial issue for the holiday was documented in 1865 by Major General Gordon Granger, proclaiming freedom for slaves in the state of Texas but it wasn’t until 1980 that the state legally recognized the holiday. It took an additional twenty years for the rest of the country to recognize Juneteenth. Deriving it’s name from combining June and nineteenth, Juneteenth has also been referred to as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Black Independence Day.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Heather Wilson has been named the new executive director at CAM. (Courtesy Cameron Art Museum)
NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Heather Wilson’s passion and leadership for Cameron Art Museum has grown since she was first hired in 2006. Seventeen years later, she is undertaking the role as the museum’s top chief.
Monday night, the CAM board of trustees voted unanimously to hire Wilson as executive director. Wilson, promoted in 2019 as deputy director, has been acting as the interim director since Anne Brennan, who worked for CAM for almost three decades, retired in March.
Brennan expanded CAM’s collection to include diverse contemporary artists with North Carolina ties, as celebrated in a recent 60 years retrospective exhibition. She was a mentor to Wilson, educating her on the art world and market at large, as well as showing her the nuances of the 4,000-object permanent collection at the museum.
“Most of all, I learned about graceful leadership from Anne,” Wilson said on a call Tuesday morning. “She’s so kind, so wise. I think she helped me listen to people first.”
Wilson informed CAM staff of her new role at a meeting earlier in the day.
“Just as I couldn’t imagine the museum without Anne Brennan, I cannot imagine this place without Heather,” director of marketing Matt Budd wrote in an email to PCD Tuesday.
Her passion for education, history and arts coincide to strengthen CAM’s future, according to Elizabeth Overton, director of development. That’s not only apparent when it comes to visitors and programming but also to staff and volunteers.
“Heather leads each department at CAM with knowledge, grace, and awareness of what is best for artists, visitors, members, and employees,” Overton wrote in an email. “She pushes us with positive encouragement to get outside of our box, grow within ourselves, and our own career.”
Wilson actually started as a development director and worked her way up the ladder; she is the seventh director to take over the reins at CAM going into its seventh decade of existence.
Her efforts have been recognized beyond CAM staff as well, including the 2021 YWCA Woman of Achievement winner in the arts category and named by WILMA as a “Woman to Watch” in 2020.
CAM has been a stalwart of cultural output since 1962; it was formerly located on Orange Street at St. John’s Museum of Art (in its place now is the Children’s Museum of Wilmington). The art museum relocated to its current campus in the early aughts at the corner of Independence Boulevard and 17th Street.
One of the museum’s biggest challenges is funding, Wilson said. It isn’t supported by local or state money, rather depends solely on donations, grants and memberships; CAM receives 33% earned income, 53% contributions and 14% endowment income.
In the last decade, Wilson said it has strengthened partnerships in the community, growing from 1,000 members in 2011 to 2,000 currently. CAM is the only arts museum in southeastern North Carolina, with attendance that has escalated from 25,000 annually, when Wilson started, to around 62,000 a year now.
Wilson has been central to the museum’s strategic planning process throughout the years, particularly when it comes to procuring grants. She has worked with the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and PNC Bank.
The latter grant was in support of “Boundless,” a bronze sculpture by Stephen Hayes that portrays 11 soldiers from the United States Colored Troops. CAM also is located on the historical grounds of the Battle of Forks Road, where the USCT fought for their own freedom in the Civil War.
The sculpture was installed two years ago, with Wilson acting as project director. Last year, PNC USCT Park opened in its honor, with live performances and cultural events taking place every spring and fall.
This November an exhibition, “Monument,” will be planned in conjunction with the sculpture and park’s recent installations.
“It is contemporary artists responding to the Civil War,” Wilson said.
Work by Carol Walker, Radcliffe Bailey, and Alison Saar will be included. Saar has done a maquette of the Harlem monument to Harriet Tubman, which will be coming from Princeton University.
“A lot of really well-known contemporary African American artists will be highlighted in that show, too,” Wilson said. “Sonya Clark’s work ‘Monumental Cloth’ is kind of a signature piece for the show.”
“Monumental Cloth, The Flag We Should Know” is a textile of the white flag that flew in the Civil War when the Confederates surrendered at Appomattox. It was known as the Confederate Flag of Truce, yet is the lesser-recognized cultural symbol of the Civil War.
“Stephen’s work is also going to be in that show, but this brings a female point of view,” Wilson said. “‘Boundless’ is very male — and so we’ll have quite a few female artists in this exhibition and I’m really excited about that.”
There will be a homecoming celebration for descendants of the troops during the opening weekend. Currently, CAM has a call out to remaining family members for an oral history that will be used as part of a film her husband, Adam, is making to show at the opening. Also part of the opening will be Brunswick County native Sherwin Bryant, a professor from Northwestern, who will discuss his research about enslaved people in Brunswick County.
Wilson has helped steer the museum’s outreach into being more inclusive, diverse and accessible to all genders, races, creeds, beliefs and ethnicities. DEIA is part of a national trend for museums currently but has been an organic part of CAM’s output, the new director said. It’s about highlighting community relevance and welcoming and encouraging conversations.
“I think art is this common language — it goes back to cave paintings, right?” Wilson said. “We’ve been trying to express the human experience through art and to connect with other people through art forever. … I think we can connect across lines of differences in a way that can be softer. I think we can we can bring people together who are different through connecting with art in a way that is nonconfrontational, and can allow us to see how we’re all more the same than we are different.”
“She moved to the United States and has done some translation work for us,” Wilson said. “She got so emotional saying how she feels welcomed here at CAM in a different way than she does at other places in our community.”
Grants also have been secured to help bring in Alzheimer’s patients and their caretakers once a month as part of Connections. It’s funded by Champion McDowell Davis Charitable Trust. One Monday a month the visitors can tour the exhibitions, listen to musicians play harp and flute and engage in the creations art.
“And I’ll tell you, I cry every time,” Wilson said.
She also leads a class for cancer patients from the Novant New Hanover Regional Medical Center Zimmer Cancer Center. They join in the exhibition spaces to meditate, partake in writing and art-making exercises, and then connect with one another.
“Watching them talk about their shared experiences, their cancer journeys, I will never forget that,” Wilson said. “There’s so many rewarding experiences of being part of the museum.”
Wilson moved to Wilmington from Boston more than a decade ago to receive her masters of fine arts at UNCW in creative writing. She was a co-founder of the campus literary magazine “Ecotone” and worked at DREAMS before taking a role at CAM.
She said she always was attracted to art museums in general due to them being a welcoming sanctuary of escape.
“Art is something that we all share, you know, whatever age we are, whatever our background is,” she said. “I love that we all bring our own context to a work of art and somehow through all of that, when you go to a museum, you can look at a work of art and have a shared experience with other museum goers.”
Wilson said it goes back to honoring the legacy of St. John’s, CAM’s founding, something that was challenged during Covid-19 — the hardest moment so far during her time at CAM. The museum was closed for six months and sustained losses of $300,000 from a typical $800,000 revenue stream. Staff was laid off; a core eight members were retained.
“We are slowly building staff back up,” Wilson said. “It’s going to take time to recover.”
However, there will not be a replacement in her former deputy director role any time soon, she verified.
In the immediate future, Wilson is concentrating on opening CAM’s next exhibit, “Love,” an adaptation “Love, What is Left Unspoken,” which was on display in Atlanta’s High Museum last year. Locally, it opens next Thursday, June 22.
“It speaks to all different kinds of love that we as humans experience — friendship love, family love, romantic love — and looks at the way we experience that shared emotion,” she said.
Wilson is already working ahead to next year as well. In February 2024 “The Work of Their Hands” will open. It will highlight textiles.
“It’s a quilt exhibition and we just found out we’re gonna have quilts by Faith Ringgold here,” she said. The New York artist is known for her activism of art, covering feminism and the cvil rights movement.
“We are working with nationally known artists that are important in the art world right now,” Wilson added. “So a lot of good stuff coming up on the horizon.”
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
The two-day celebration of African American arts and culture is a free, family-friendly, and citywide festival. Events will take place Friday, June 16th, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Saturday, June 17th, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., on Mall C in Downtown Cleveland.
Organizers say the performance by Kid Capri is set for Friday, June 16, at 8:30 p.m.
The weekend line-up also includes:
BLOCK PARTY, TRUNK SHOW, AND FIREWORKS DISPLAY on Friday night:
Trunk Show, games, and concessions – 6:00 p.m.
Kid Capri – 8:30 p.m.
Fireworks – 10:00 p.m.
URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER CLEVELAND COMMUNITY STAGE SHOWCASES from local performing arts groups on Saturday:
Karamu Arts Academy – 11:00 a.m.
The Sparrow’s Fortune – 11:00 a.m.
216 Stix + Scream Team – 12:30 p.m.
Raven Rae – 12:30 p.m.
Siaara Freeman with Nemiah Spencer – 2:00 p.m.
The Unit eXperience Project – 3:30 p.m.
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCES, interviews, and guests on Saturday:
Wayne State University is hosting a series of events in celebration of Juneteenth. Tuoanyene Natt Sims speaks about the events, including a performance showcase on Wednesday paying tribute to the African American experience through song, dance, poetry and more by university faculty and staff.
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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
When Alteronce Gumby was 26 years old, he floated through the sky and saw his silhouette haloed in a prism of colour beneath his outstretched arms. It was the painter’s first and final time skydiving; he wanted to fulfil his dream of passing through a cloud. “As we descended towards Earth, I noticed that our shadow cast on the cloud was creating a rainbow halo around us,” he remembers almost ten years later. The experience crystallized in his memory and is echoed in his abstract paintings made from shards of glass, gemstones, resin, acrylic paint, and reflective surfaces. “I think of myself as an artist explorer,” says Gumby. “With each painting, I’m trying to redefine colour for myself. Travelling allows me to do that, too.”
Alteronce Gumby in his studio.Photography: Sergio Gutierrez
The Bronx-based painter has travelled through the sky and across continents to seek inspiration for his transcendent paintings. Now, he is continuing his odyssey in a forthcoming feature documentary aptly titled COLOR. The film will follow the artist across the world (and here in New York) as he explores the many facets of colour.
The idea for a documentary was born at the beginning of 2023. While mapping out his trips for the year (New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Norway for the northern lights), he had a lightbulb moment: what if he filmed his adventures and shared them with the world? He called his friend, the filmmaker John Campbell — who he met on the set of Campbell’s documentary mini-series “Who’s Behind Black Art?” — and the project snowballed from there. The two started filming in New Orleans and Madura, India and began raising funds on Kickstarter to cover equipment, travel costs, a small crew, and production. Next week, the team will make their way to Marrakech, Morocco.
Alteronce experiencing the Holi Celebration in Mathura, India. Film Still from Color by Alteronce Gumby
“The interesting thing about making a travel documentary is that I can be a stranger,” says Gumby. India, one of the first stops, was a welcome culture shock for the painter. He soaked in the new environment’s vibrancy. “I noticed the colour of the sarees, the colour of the fabrics; I noticed the colour of the food, with its rich curry spice; I noticed the colour of the landscapes, dusty with brown clay. It was a beautiful experience.” Gumby chose Madurai for its location as India’s annual Holi festival: a celebration where attendees douse each other with powder from pink to green to blue.
He set out to discover the origins of the holiday, he says, recounting a story told to him by a local: legend has it, Krishna’s love Radha covered her light skin in colourful pigments to match the beauty of the Hindu god’s dark complexion. “It just goes to show that in one place, lighter skin is preferred, then in other places, darker skin is celebrated,” he reflects.” How do we understand what it means to be Black? Or white? And who decides the ideal beauty standard? “It all depends on where you are,” answers Gumby. “Sharing stories from different cultures opens up our understanding of this. Especially in the age we are in now, with the internet: we should all be watching and learning from each other constantly,” he emphasizes, adding, “It’s another thing to see someone like me exploring these foreign countries.”
Alteronce with dye specialist Cara Piazza.Film Still from Color by Alteronce Gumby
The artist’s research into the cultural undertones of colour began as he delved deeper into his practice as a painter. As he researched art history, the history of pigments, colour theory, and astrophysics, he began to understand colour as a conduit for ideas. “It was through that history that I really started noticing colour more for its political content — and personal context for myself,” he says. “I began to think about how the colour black was used as a psychological warfare to have people think that Black people are bad or negative or inferior as opposed to white. I noticed how these things are reinforced through art history and the history of black paintings from [Kazimir] Malevich and [Paul] Bilhaud.”
Film Still from Color by Alteronce Gumby
Following his graduation from Yale’s MFA program, the painter found himself in Paris for a year-long residency at the Fondation des États-Unis. While he was there, he saw a life-changing exhibition of Ad Reinhardt’s black square paintings. “I thought, I love these paintings,” he remembers. As Gumby researched Reinhardt and his black series (which, upon close inspection, revealed pigmented hues of blue, green, or red), he learned that the abstract painter viewed the colour as a void, a vacuum.
He wondered how Reinhardt could see emptiness where he saw limitless possibility. To the young painter, all of the nuances, the colours and geometric grids within the black squares seemed to be the opposite of a void. As Gumby began to dive deeper into the late artist’s practice, he came across an interview between Reinhardt and Cecil Taylor, the acclaimed jazz pianist and poet.
Alteronce in conversation with artist Tomashi Jackson. Film Still from Color by Alteronce Gumby
“Cecil Taylor was saying, ‘when I think of the colour black, I think of the back of my mother’s hand, I think of jazz music, I think Harlem and 125th Street, I think of church on Sunday,’” recalls Gumby. “I felt like my relationship to the colour black was more in tune with Cecil’s, being a Black man in America. So I started making these paintings based on the colour black, which are somewhat like this painting here,” Gumby says, directing our focus to a lustrous large-scale work, a continuation of his “Black(ness) is Beautiful” series that he worked on during his Paris residency. Dark, jewel-toned gemstones, glass, and acrylic paint cover the large canvas.
“At a distance, it seems black,” he observes as we approach the painting. “But when you get up close, you can see so many colours.” Greens, blues, and violet reflections shimmer from the black painting, catching the afternoon studio light. “All of these colours add to the experience of what you may perceive to be a black or dark painting; it’s much more complex. It’s much more diverse. It’s an amalgamation of all the colours coming together,” he says. In his studio, the colour black shines opalescent, a rainbow shifting in tone depending on the viewer’s vantage point.
Alteronce Gumby in his studio.Photography: Sergio Gutierrez
Throughout his practice, Gumby has continued to develop a unique visual language grounded in colour. The colour black has remained a north star in his work, a source of inspiration and introspection that the artist often returns to, unearthing new shades of meaning. In 2020, he curated a group show titled A Muffled Sound Underwater at LatchKey Gallery with the artist Tariku Shiferaw that highlighted artists using the colour black to discuss culture and beyond. (The title references a quote from the theorist and poet Fred Moten). In his 2022 exhibition with Berlin’s Bode Projects at Zona Maco art fair in Mexico City, Gumby exhibited a series of black gemstone paintings inspired by a visit to Teotihuacán’s volcanic Pyramid of the Sun. The works featured obsidian, labradorite, black kyanite, shungite, and black tourmaline.
In his essay Blackness, Fred Moten traces blackness “way back, before the violent norm.” The poet and theorist finds blackness, in all its multitudes, to contain “the surrealisation of space and time, the inseparability of gravity and matter, fabric’s fabrication, field’s feel.” To understand this, he writes, “You have to use your imagination against the world, since in the world—that dream, that nightmare of dominion, overview, and oversight—blackness comes sharply into relief against its negation.”
Alteronce Gumby in his studio.Photography: Sergio Gutierrez
Gumby uses his imagination against the world with such a force that it expands beyond it into the galaxy. “I started looking at our star, the sun, as a source of colour. As you look beyond that, there are hundreds of billions of stars in the known universe. Each one of those stars has its own fingerprint, its own signature palette, or what they would call the black body,” he explains.
“If you can imagine being on another planet in another solar system with a different atmosphere, the way you would see or experience colour would be different,” Gumby muses. His identity wouldn’t come with all of the cultural signifiers and prejudices that race and identity have on Earth. “If I walked into a bar on a different planet, I could just say ‘Hi, I’m Alteronce’ and let my identity start from there,” he says.
He points to a rectangular painting with strips of horizontal colours propped up against a studio wall. “This is a little bit of a self-portrait,” he reveals, standing next to the work, which is about his height. “I just love the way astrophysicists describe the spectrums of stars as black bodies, these perfect black bodies. This is my own take on that: it’s measuring the layers of colours that probably exist within me, that frequency, that colour spectrum.”
Alteronce Gumby in his studio.Photography: Sergio Gutierrez
Soon into our conversation, his Bengal cat (fittingly named Cosmo Picasso) bounds into the room, affectionately brushing up against my leg before leaping onto the table and attempting to perch on the artist’s shoulder. I observe his oval, cheetah-like spots are perfectly at home among Gumby’s paintings. “I’ve been using some of his patterns in the works,” he agrees. Nearby, a fuchsia mirrored piece with a scatter of clear crystals rests on a table. He leans in to inspect the gemstones, and I glimpse his pink-tinged reflection in the work.
Gumby is one of those rare artists who seems to switch between his right and left brain with ease: one moment, he is speaking about astrophysics and the colour index. Next, he waxes poetic about the spiritual properties of celadonite, a crystal which “invokes a sense of clarity.” A large, translucent point of quartz sits on his palette table, drenched in soft sunlight. The gemstone’s presence helps him maintain a focused mind when painting.
His large-scale paintings recall Jack Whitten’s mosaic-like, multicoloured tesserae paintings in the same breath as Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” series, which captured the dynamic effects of light. “Sometimes when I’m looking at Monet’s water lily paintings, I feel like I’m not only looking at the water lilies, but I’m also looking at these overcast clouds that appear to be passing through or the sunset or sunrise happening across the sky,” he says. “Maybe he’s also looking at the reflection of the clouds and sky, and through observation, seeing beyond, beyond the clouds to a cosmic landscape.”
Alteronce Gumby in his studio.Photography: Sergio Gutierrez
As I watch Gumby — who is standing in front of one of his recent white paintings dotted with clear gemstones and glowing pale green undertones, a painting that, like his black works, reflects a spectrum of colours — and listen to him imagine Monet gazing at (and beyond) the sky, I can’t help but think that he could also very well be describing the work behind him.
In his 2017 debut solo show at Long Gallery in Harlem titled Reading Rainbows, inspired by countless hours of observing the night sky, the young artist defined what would become a lifelong exploration of colour. “Gazing at the sky, our window to the cosmos, allowed me to look beyond the tragic realities of today and begin to compose moments of peace,” he wrote in his artist statement. “Often I ask myself, ‘What does it mean to be an artist of colour and make paintings about colour?’” he continues. “The ability to recontextualize hue through abstract painting is the most emancipating act in my practice. I consider colour to be more than just a hue, a race, a mood, a shade, a mark, a line, a man, a woman, a country, or a nation. It’s an amalgamation of experiences, signs, and signifiers that tell a story. My story. Written and rewritten with each painting.” And six years later, the painter continues his cosmic journey, building a new visual language to capture the colourful prism of human experience.
You can learn more about Gumby’s forthcoming documentary and donate here.
Words by Meka Boyle
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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
CINCINNATI — After more than a year of planning and construction, Ziegler Park’s renovations are complete and city officials are ready to show off the changes.
The OTR park already featured a large pool and smaller lawn area. But now visitors will find the park has expanded to Woodward and Yukon streets.
Spearheaded by 3CDC, the park now features a new synthetic turf field for outdoor games.
The city is also set to unveil new art that was incorporated into the expansion from Black Art Speaks.
Talks about the project started last summer and in October 2022 Cincinnati City Council’s budget and finance committee unanimously approved the funding for a $3.5 million park expansion, which paved the way for construction to begin in November.
One of the goals of the project is to improve safety in the area.
“We’ve had some serious public safety concerns in this very vicinity, particularly on Woodward,” 3CDC President and CEO Steve Leeper said. “We would like to try and address this by creating a space for everybody, a safe area that will be safe for both children and members of the community.”
However, not everyone in the community thinks the park expansion will improve safety in the area.
“They’re under the assumption that the expansion of Ziegler Park will control the crime,” said Deborah Mays, who has lived in Pendleton and Over-the-Rhine for decades. “Actually, nothing is going to change the crime until we change the minds of those who have a need to shoot somebody.”
The official ribbon cutting ceremony is set for 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13. Mayor Aftab Pureval and other city leaders are expected to attend.
Long before South by Southwest (SXSW)made Austin an annual destination for entertainment lovers, the city had already been deemed the Live Music Capital of the World, and, as with many metropolises, its reach can be attributed to the contributions of Black creatives.
This month, one organization is spreading the word on behalf of Black musicians, promoters, and studios with the tagline, “There is no Austin without US,” and pledging $100,000 to its efforts, according to KXAN Austin. The Diversity Awareness and Wellness in Action (DAWA) organization will showcase some of the city’s talent at Antone’s Nightclub in the downtown Austin area throughout June. The performances, which will take place every Friday, are part of a larger mission to rightfully honor the work Black artists do to create the heartbeat of cities like Austin that heavily rely on them to drive tourism and capital.
“From blues to rock, soul, hip-hop, house, and country, the sonic imprint of Black musicians is indelible,” said Jonathan ‘Chaka’ Mahone, founder and director of DAWA. “We have been here, producing abundantly, but our incredible fruits have not necessarily benefited us directly due to the industry practices in music cities like Austin around the country.” DAWA has also established a live music fund to help with costs for artists who regularly perform around the city, including DJ and producer Cecil ‘Starboy’ Lockwood. “Those funds, were able to just say, we see you doing your thing, being original giving back to the community,” Lockwood said. “And by giving funds that allows me to know, cool, somebody sees me and wants me to keep doing what I’m doing.”
The fund, created in 2020, will spread out its resources for the next two years to continue its support for Black artists in and around the Austin area. “There needs to be a shift in who benefits most from the work that is created, and the Black Live Music Fund wants to create space for new standards that center the artist/creator,” Mahone said.
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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Gather for free house music every week: With the summer season finally heating up, there’s a plethora of free outdoor events in Detroit’s neighborhoods heating up as well. One extra hot offering is the weekly House Music Thursday, hosted at The Congregation cafe and bar near Boston-Edison and Virginia Park. DJ Eternal Student and Mr. Tony Dennis spin soulful house music into the evening, as the tunes pulsate throughout The Congregation’s adjacent garden and out into the neighborhood. The two veterans usually invite a rotating guest DJ to step up, with local legends such as Eddie Fowlkes, the AMX, and Mike “Agent X” Clark taking a turn on the patio in the past. This is the fourth year for the summer series, and while there are usually plenty of seats at the picnic tables during a typical weekday, the garden is packed out with lawn chairs and picnic blankets during House Music Thursday. Food trucks pull up and The Congregation opens an additional bar outside to keep the vibes and drinks flowing. Music typically goes from 5-9 p.m., every Thursday through August. —Joe
The DSO activates its Sosnick Courtyard: Here’s more outdoor mid-week fun, this time hosted by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the compound’s courtyard. SuperNATURAL is a “shared and safe spiritual experience” curated by Vespre, the musical project of Kaylan Waterman. Happening on this year’s summer solstice, the event will span the universes of R&B, jazz, and deep soul for an evening of human connection and emotional authenticity. Local talent includes Vespre herself, innovative producer/musician Na Bonsai, jazz maestro Ian Finkelstein and the reliably good DJ and producer Meftah. The event will also feature a set from dreamcastmoe, a lifelong resident of Washington, D.C., who has been releasing some very expansive and affecting modern R&B via Ghostly International. Influences from the old guard can be heard in each of these artists, while they also add something wholly fresh and distinctive to their individual sounds. It’s an apt concert to be hosted on the DSO grounds, during the solstice when the barriers between planes are the thinnest. SuperNATURAL starts at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, in the DSO’s Sosnick Courtyard. Register for free admission via dso.org. —Joe
Detroit-Berlin Connection Fundrager: This description is just too good not to include, so I’ll share it here: “Since the genesis of the art form, techno’s sibling cities (Detroit and Berlin) have shared a deep connection. A trans-Atlantic fellowship in futuristic dance music that soundtracks the renegade spirit of these two places. This is a musical bond in our shared hope for places that rise from the ashes.” Of course we all know where techno really started, but it’s undeniable that Berlin and Europe helped make the sound global. In the spirit of earnest and constructive collaboration, the Detroit-Berlin Connection organizes an artist residency exchange with their counterpart in Germany, Musicboard Berlin who have together been responsible for over a dozen residencies between the two cities — and counting! The groups have organized a joint fundraiser on Thursday, June 22, at Marble Bar, headlined by current artist resident from Berlin, Souci, with direct support via live sets from Kesswa, Gusto, and DBS. DJs for the evening will include DJ Etta (Blueprint, Submerge), John “Jammin” Collins (UR, Submerge), and a special set from the legendary Detroit Techno Militia. Tickets are available via Resident Advisor! —Broccoli
Liber8 touches down in Detroit for Juneteenth party: There are all kinds of great events taking place this weekend in Detroit to celebrate the Black liberation holiday of Juneteenth (if you’re not familiar with the holiday, there is a great Smithsonian article about it that you can easily find on Google).This year, the organization Black Techno Matters is presenting Liber8, a multi-city Juneteenth celebration that will take place simultaneously in multiple cities, each organized by and featuring black artists. Liber8 313 is taking place on Sunday, June 18 at Spot Lite Detroit, and will feature both some of the city’s established and up-and-coming DJs in an all-femme lineup, beginning with an hour-long panel discussion with the DJs where they will discuss the meaning of liberation for black artists in Detroit, followed by a two-stage event that celebrates the home of techno, the originators of Ttechno, and the next generations to come. Featured artists include Something Blue b2b Kindle, Sabetye b2b DJ Etta, AK b2b Blackmoonchild, and AMX (fka The AM). Also, can we just say that we love a 6 p.m. start time that ends at midnight on a Sunday? You can have some fun while still getting your beauty sleep, all while supporting the important work of Black Techno Matters and some of the incredible artists that call Detroit home. Tickets available via Resident Advisor. —Broccoli
