For Lufkin artist Dwight Gipson, this weekend is about more than just celebrating the abolition of slavery, it’s about using creativity to bring people together.
Gipson will be showcasing his art, featuring some of Lufkin’s black leaders, in the 9:30 a.m. Juneteenth parade Saturday and is hoping to get other artists in the area to participate.
“I would like for the other artists out there to get in touch with me. I would like to find a place to show their work off too,” he said. “There’s a lot of good stuff out there going unseen.”
The multitude of canvases Gipson displayed Monday were done in less than two weeks. The project, which has been a dream since he was young, has special meaning for Gipson in light of Juneteenth also falling on Father’s Day this year.
“I think it’s interesting because it’s Father’s Day and these are our forefathers. They did open up some doors for us. I’ve got the first black dentist, Dr. Packer. I’ve got Maggie McCoy, the art teacher at Dunbar High,” he said. “I want to continue and draw more of the teachers and get some of the influential people in our neighborhoods. Ms. (Rev. Bettie) Kennedy had a big hand in it. This is just the beginning.”
According to Juneteenth.com, the holiday is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.
Weekend festivities kick off at 9:30 a.m. with parade lineup at the corner of Hosea Dolphus and Keltys streets. Immediately after the parade the program for the day will be presented with Rev. Bettie Kennedy as the speaker.
