Each year since Juneteenth became a federal holiday, Bucks County artist Kevin Aster Young has invited the community to contribute to a collaborative work of art at the annual Mercer Museum Juneteenth celebration in Doylestown, PA based on the imagery found in the Juneteenth flag. This year, for the 160th anniversary of the holiday, Kevin has partnered with sixteen different community organizations and faith-based institutions to create a piece that simultaneously celebrates the holiday, highlights the history of the African-American experience, and unites diverse segments of the local community by having them collaborate on one cohesive work of art.
Each organization was given ten small canvases to paint according to the artist’s guidelines, resulting in 160 separate pieces in total. These many small canvases combine to create an image of the Juneteenth flag. In addition, each canvas corresponds to a particular year since the first Juneteenth celebration in 1865 and can be rotated to reveal the year and a QR code that links to a relevant educational article on Black history for that time.
This year’s work, titled “Forward Backward Together Forward (160 Years)” brings the community closer together while simultaneously embodying unity in diversity, visualizing the passage of time, and highlighting the contributions of Black Americans to American history at a time when doing so is of paramount importance.
“Forward Backward Together Forward (160 Years)” will be unveiled to the public at the Mercer Museum’s fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration at 12 PM on June 14th, 2025 at 84 S. Pine Street in Doylestown PA’s cultural district.
