CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH IN SENECA VILLAGE. Head to Seneca Village this Juneteenth for a family-friendly celebration of Black culture and accomplishment through music, storytelling, dance, poetry and more!
Enjoy performances by world-renowned artists as they interpret the fascinating history and significance of Juneteenth and Seneca Village through dance, poetry, music, storytelling, art activities, and more!
Juneteenth in Seneca Village offers an opportunity to not only consider the origins and meaning of this day, but to reflect on Seneca Village, a predominately African-American community that existed before New York City created Central Park and long before we celebrated Juneteenth. Discover the history of this community and see performances by award-winning artists throughout the Park’s Seneca Village landscape that honor the voices and cultures that once resided here.
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Artists will perform throughout the Seneca Village landscape, with each site focusing on a theme connected to the community. See the map below for performance information, times, and locations. We encourage visitors to explore the performances in any order throughout their visit.
Welcome to Seneca Village, a predominately African-American community that existed before New York City created Central Park and long before we began celebrating Juneteenth. It is likely that the majority of Seneca Village’s residents came from African ancestry and would have been familiar with the sounds of traditional African instruments. In a nod to this ancestry, Senegalese percussionist Abdou M’Boup performs on the kora and various African percussion instruments.
Census records indicate that most of Seneca Village’s children attended school. At this site near the former location of Colored School #3, we imagine the joy that residents might have shared through the culture of African storytelling. Delight in relatable stories and music for all ages with award-winning 5-string banjo player Ayodele Maakheru and Grammy award nominee Gha’il Rhodes Benjamin.
This site of the African Union Church speaks to more than a religious landmark. With its two neighboring churches, the site represents a prominent gathering place for its community and the heart of Seneca Village. Award-winning poet and author Marilyn Nelson brings this community to life in her reading of My Seneca Village while professional interpretive dancers Kia Sillman, Tislarm Bouie, and Tiarah Sowell-Hearne channel Nelson’s words through creative expression and movement.
Andrew Williams was a Seneca Village landowner who secured his right to vote through the value of his land in 1825. Inspired by Andrew Williams’ original profession as a shoeshine, actor and tap dancer DeWitt Fleming, Jr. explores and imagines Williams’ world and pays tribute to what he was able to build through the lens of his tap shoes.
Seneca Village included a surprising number of female property owners. At the site of Tanner’s Spring, likely an important meeting place for residents, we bring to life a tea party inspired by an elegant teapot found during archaeological excavations at the site of landowner Nancy Moore’s home. Listen in as singer and actor Miche Braden, guitarist Angela Johnson-Swan, and vocalist Carla Cook bring imagined conversations between Seneca Village’s women to life through song, music, and spoken word.
The highest point in Central Park, Summit Rock was as prominent a feature during the time of Seneca Village as it is today. Seneca Village’s history in connection to Central Park is layered and complex. Duality exists between the celebration of Black success during a time of unimaginable hardships and the feeling of tragic loss when the area was seized by eminent domain to build New York City’s first public park. View yourself reflected in Myles Nurse’s “Dancing Ancestors” sculptures as we pay tribute to the Black residents that made Seneca Village home. Turn this inward reflection into outward expression with the Community Legacy Project as we create “Arts as Advocacy Legacy Bracelets,” inspired by the beads found at the Seneca Village site during archaeological excavations.
At the site of Summit Rock, we invite visitors to commemorate Seneca Village by taking a journey with award-winning cellist Akua Dixon, harpist Ashley Jackson, and drummer and percussionist Shirazette Tinnin as they deliver a curated performance in celebration of both what is gone and what remains of this important Black community.
FEATURED ARTISTS
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Andromeda Turre
MUSIC
Abdou M’Boup
MUSIC
Ayodele Maakheru
STORYTELLER
Gha’il Rhodes Benjamin
POETRY
Marilyn Nelson
DANCE
Kia Sillman
DANCE
Tislarm Bouie
DANCE
DeWitt Fleming, Jr.
PERFORMANCE
Miche Braden
PERFORMANCE
Angela Johnson Swan
PERFORMANCE
Carla Cook
SCULPTOR
Myles Nurse
MUSIC
Akua Dixon
MUSIC
Ashley Jackson
MUSIC
Shirazette Tinnin
PERFORMANCE
Community Legacy Project (CLP)
A CLOSER LOOK AT SENECA VILLAGE
Read more about the history and culture of this vibrant community.
