JUNETEENTH

Juneteenth had just become a national holiday and the Minnesota Historical Society wanted to commemorate with fresh creative. I was charged with coming up with a concept that would educate and engage viewers online. I creative directed a series of videos that spoke to the history, legacy and application of the negro spiritual as it related to this long celebrated holiday in the Black community.

For this project, I drew very heavily on my knowledge of art and music history to help bring this series to life. Juneteenth: The Negro Spiritual, for instance, drew inspiration from the famous Alvin Ailey classical dance piece Revelations that featured a dance choreographed to the negro spiritual Fix Me Jesus. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to introduce 2d animation in the form of an animatic to illustrate pieces of narrative that referenced history. For the animation, I enlisted the help of a talented local Black animator, Iyare Oronsaye, who took my art direction and gave it his own spin. For the historical reference, I enlisted the help of famed choral conductor, Sharon Reed, whose group, the Heritage Ensemble, had been performing Juneteenth concerts in the Midwest that featured the negro spiritual for the past 20 years.

As a lead in to Juneteenth: The Negro Spiritual, we enlisted the expertise of scholar and historian, Dr. Yohuru Williams. Having worked with him on previous pieces, we knew he had the knowledge and the charisma to deliver the history in an engaging way that would keep the audience interested. I chose to create a visual treatment for the first two pieces that used projection and dramatic lighting to convey the gravity of the subject while interspersing the video with strong still photographic imagery from the MNHS Collections featuring Black Minnesotans from the Rondo area (a previously all Black area in St. Paul broken up by the introduction of a major highway) and the Twin Cities.

Director/Co-Producer/Co-Writer: Andrea Ellen Reed Co-Producer/Co-Writer: Julianna Olsen Videographer/Editor: Ned Hurley

Animator: Iyare Oronsaye