JUNETEENTH MUSIC FESTIVAL
Growing up in Denver, just blocks away from the historic five-points neighborhood, the Juneteenth festival has always been a part of my life. To me the celebration has always felt above reality — it is a festival that attracts more than 40,000 atendees that focuses soley on Black achivement, history, and freedom in a city whose Black population is under 10%. This year Juneteeth was recognized as an offical State holiday in part due to the efforts of Colorado Workers for Innovative and New Solutions (COWINS), a Union representing more than 31,000 State employees.
I was given the opportunity to create deisgns for Colorado WINS and the festival to commemorate the occasion. With this design I wanted to utilize iconography of the African diaspora while honoring Colorado WINS and the work they continue to do to uplift working class people in Colorado in a simple, shareable, and highly recogniziable way. At my core, all I want to do is make my younger self proud — having some 40,000 atendees see my deisign as legnedary Artists like Twista and Dave East celebrate Blackness at one of the country’s largest Juneteenth festivals in a neighborhood I grew up in does just that.
I was given the opportunity to create deisgns for Colorado WINS and the festival to commemorate the occasion. With this design I wanted to utilize iconography of the African diaspora while honoring Colorado WINS and the work they continue to do to uplift working class people in Colorado in a simple, shareable, and highly recogniziable way. At my core, all I want to do is make my younger self proud — having some 40,000 atendees see my deisign as legnedary Artists like Twista and Dave East celebrate Blackness at one of the country’s largest Juneteenth festivals in a neighborhood I grew up in does just that.
