Juneteenth 2023 Celebration will be held at the Pump House Center for the Arts (PHCA) at 1 Enderlin Circle, Chillicothe, Ohio from June 1 through June 30, 2023. To celebrate the anniversary of the National holiday, a partnership of the Pump House Center for the Arts (PHCA) and the Ross County NAACP, both organizations in Chillicothe, Ohio, will host two events for 2023.

The first event will feature “Celebrating Artist of Color”, displaying various forms of artwork from June 1 through June 30, 2023. The Artist primary ethnicity should be of African American descendants, both local and within other cities and states who wish to display all forms of their artwork. This year we are also partnering with the King Arts Complex of Columbus, Ohio. We will as in past shows, solicit from local and youth artists. As we the PHCA continue to place emphasis on future Artists, we will be working with Ross County Schools for youth in grades 4 through 8, providing an opportunity displaying and judging their artwork.

The Juneteenth program will consist of a one-day event being held on Sunday, June 18, 2023. Time of the event will begin with a prelude of gospel instrumental music featuring BBJ Project from 2:30pm -3:00pm, with program to begin at 3:00pm. Although it will be a one-day event, it will be a day filled with involvement from all dominations of Churches from Chillicothe and surrounding communities, through an All-Faith Worship. The program will feature our guest speaker, Honorable Judge Kimberly Cocroft, Court of Commom Pleas, Columbus, Ohio. Along with the guest speaker, The Voices of Thunder from Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Springfield, Ohio will perform. The program will also have youth involvement with a much larger presence from local Spiritual Mimes. The winners of the youth art contest will also be announced and awarded.

As this event is again being held on Father’s Day, there will be Food Trucks, both local and from the Circleville, Ohio area. This was a great attraction which brought people in to sit, listen, eat and enjoy the joyous events of the day.