The Vanderbilt University community is invited to attend Juneteenth activities at the National Museum of African American Music from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, June 19.
Vanderbilt has a unique community partnership with NMAAM, which includes joint programming and an archive acquisition fund. In 2021, a collaboration between the university and NMAAM granted free admission to the museum’s galleries and exhibitions for all Vanderbilt undergraduate and graduate students.
Visiting the museum during Juneteenth is an opportunity to enjoy the diverse offerings in the museum’s galleries and special activities free of charge. This year’s Juneteenth lineup at the museum includes workshops such as “Freedom Through Innovation” (making diddley bows) and “Kenya Rayme’s Freedom Through Spiritual Healing Class” (meditation and yoga practices). Details are available on NMAAM’s website.
The original Vanderbilt-NMAAM partnership, facilitated by Government and Community Relations, includes an initiative to support the purchase of materials for research and exhibition.
Funding for the Collections Initiative comes from the Academic Archives Purchasing Fund, a faculty funding program within the Office of the Provost. Collections that have already been acquired through the NMAAM partnership include the papers and works of musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Rissi Palmer.
Another NMAAM fund managed by the Vice Provost Office for Arts and Libraries is the Arts, Discovery and Innovation Fund, which awards collaborations on events between Vanderbilt staff and faculty and NMAAM staff. The office has funded recent programming including Social Justice and the Black Music Experience and Afro-ARTivism: An Evening of Art and Hip-Hop.
In addition to Juneteenth, NMAAM is hosting several events and activities in conjunction with African American Music Appreciation Month in June.
More information about other Vanderbilt Juneteenth celebrations is available here.