Blog
Freedom and Form: Honoring Juneteenth Through Art, Dialogue, and Community
July 2, 2025 | By Shazia Mir
We recently gathered at LabCentral for Freedom and Form—a Juneteenth celebration grounded in art, storytelling, and the ongoing pursuit of liberation. It was a powerful afternoon of reflection and restoration, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who joined us to mark this important day.
At the heart of the event was our newest art exhibit, which brought together incredible works by artists whose practices are rooted in resistance, memory, and healing. Through their visual language, they offered us new ways of seeing, remembering, and imagining what freedom looks and feels like. We are honored to showcase their work at Gallery 1832 and are beyond proud of the conversations it sparked.
Our panel, Art as Resistance and Restoration, carried those themes forward into rich, vulnerable, and thought-provoking dialogue. Huge thanks to the brilliant artists who participated and to the incomparable Amanda Shea for moderating with such clarity, care, and wisdom. Amanda’s gift for holding space-especially when it comes to conversations at the intersection of art, identity, and justice-is unparalleled.
As artist DaNice Marshall so beautifully stated during the panel, “We are more the same than we are different.” That simple but profound truth echoed throughout the room, reminding us that while our experiences may be shaped by different histories, what drives us - dignity, belonging, and connection - is shared.
Jamaal Bonnette, resident artist, shared his poignant thoughts about the day’s meaning – “Juneteenth to me means the amplification of Blackness” – through stories, voices, culture, and collective power. It’s a day that reminds us not just of the delayed promise of freedom, but of the enduring strength, creativity, and brilliance of Black communities. It’s not just about remembrance — it’s about resonance, about ensuring that the echoes of history don’t fade, but rise louder through art, dialogue, and action.
One of the most moving moments came after the event, in the form of a reflection sent by a guest. Though they didn’t get a chance to ask their question during the panel, they remembered something they heard at our Pride event earlier in the month, Pride in Leadership Authenticity as a Superpower: If you have a burning question, ask it to yourself. And so they did.
They reflected on the words of Lucille Clifton, the poet and environmentalist who wrote:
being property once myself
i have a feeling for it,
that’s why i can talk
about environment
what wants to be a tree,
ought to be he can be it.
same thing for other things.
same thing for men.
The guest asked themself: What empowers us to shape the environment around us? Their answer: A deep knowledge of suffering—gained through experience, learning, and witnessing—and a desire to lessen it for others. That reflection struck a chord. It encapsulates the purpose of events like this and the spirit of the LabCentral community: to create environments where science, art, and humanity not only coexist—but strengthen each other.
For me personally, this is exactly what drives my work: a belief that diversity of thought, experience, and identity enriches everything we do. It’s not just a value—it’s a fact.
Thank you to the artists, speakers, partners, and guests who helped bring Freedom and Form to life. The conversations don’t end here. Let’s keep asking the questions, shaping our environments with care, and showing up for one another-in art, in science, and in community.
Special thanks to our artists:
Jamaal Bonnette
https://www.instagram.com/connflique/
DaNice D Marshall
Cedric Douglas
https://www.instagram.com/vise_1_boston/?hl=en
Laura Palmer Edwards
https://www.instagram.com/living_colorart/?hl=en
Sophia ‘Phia’ Dubuisson
Amanda Shea
Lavaughan Jenkins