Juneteenth! at the Museum @ OMCA
$10All-inclusive festival and gallery access /// TICKETS
OMCA X Black Freedom Fund present Juneteenth! at the Museum—a vibrant, full-day celebration of Black culture, creativity, and community. Guests can expect a dynamic campus filled with live performances and DJ sets from boundary-pushing artists, delicious offerings from standout Bay Area Black chefs and food vendors, and hands-on activities that invite visitors of all ages to move, make, and connect in celebration of Black culture.
From live music and soul line dancing to Juneteenth fan-making and community art projects, the day brings together joy, creativity, and reflection across OMCA’s campus. The celebration also features OMCA’s latest Special Exhibition, Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory, alongside special programming that invites guests to engage with Black memory, identity, and artistic expression in new ways. Join us at OMCA for this joyful, can’t-miss tribute to Black heritage, resilience, and community.
Schedule of Events
FOOD AND BEVERAGES
10TH STREET | LOWER LEVEL11 am–4 pm Enjoy a delectable variety of Pan-African and Black diasporic cuisine from Bay Area chefs and Off the Grid food trucks, including Mela Bistro, alaMar, Cocobreeze, Town Fare Cafe, Pound Bizness, and more!
TOWN FARE CAFE | MID LEVEL – VIP TICKET REQUIRED11 am–4 pm Chef Michele McQueen of Town Fare and Lucy Blue, in collaboration with Maker’s Mark, presents Juneteenth Jubilee VIP. VIP tickets are $110 and provide an all-inclusive Juneteenth experience featuring a catered buffet, indoor and outside lounge seating, a specialty welcome cocktail, a live DJ, Spades and dominoes games, hand-printed Maker’s Mark merch, a Wine Alley presented by Black Vines, a complimentary photo booth, and more.
PERFORMANCES AND DJ SETS
GARDEN STAGE | LOWER LEVEL11:00 am–12:00 pm Music Set by DJ LadyRyan
12:00–12:10 pm Formal Welcome
12:30–1:00 pm Music Set by DJ Red Corvette
1:00–1:15 pm Live Performance by Ian Kelly
1:20–1:45 pm Live Performance by Red Lotus
1:45-2:15 pm Music Set by DJ KenZo
2:15– 2:40 pm Live Performance by Madison McFerrin
2:50-3:20 pm DJ Set by Daghe
3:20-3:50 pm Live Performance by Saba
3:50-4:05 pm DJ Set
AMPHITHEATER STAGE | LOWER LEVEL11:00 am–12:30 pm Music Set by DJ Kream
3:00-4:00 pm Music Set by DJ Kream
ACTIVITIES
MID LEVEL TERRACE | MID LEVEL11:00 am-4:00 pm Shop and enjoy artisanal goods from local Black creatives including Melanin Gang, Prideful Patches, Unified Pieces, Belle Noire, Avocurl and Hella Charged & Lit.
KORET PLAZA | LOWER LEVEL12:00-4:00 pm Make a folding paper fan and a wearable button inspired by Juneteenth!
12:30-3:30 pm AfroComicCon and Oakland Technology and Education Center (OTEC) is bringing flair and fun to Juneteenth! at the Museum. Celebrate the themes of freedom and boundless imagination with AfroComicCon/OTEC collaborating artist Eugene R. Young. Use acrylic paint pens and paper to invent original characters, creatures, and things never seen before. Show your support for this non-profit by taking a photo in front of their backdrop, snagging some super cool merch, and hearing about some of the amazing projects that AfroComicCon/OTEC is bringing to the community!
AMPHITHEATER | LOWER LEVEL12:30-1:30 pm Join Telice for an all-ages Turf Dance Lesson celebrating Black liberation.
2:00–3:00 pm Get moving with a Soul Line Dance Lesson hosted by Chocolate Platinum!
JAMES MOORE THEATER | LOWER LEVEL*2:15-3:15 pm Watch the premiere of the short documentary Memories in Motion: Selected Stories of Mildred Howard, written and directed by Lamar “MYL3Z” Brown and Delency Parham, with cinematography by Kevin Kumar and Tristan Custodio. Following the screening, join Mildred Howard, MYL3Z, and Delency Parham for a conversation moderated by Dr. Ameer Hasan Loggins, professor of Black Studies at UC Berkeley, on intergenerational relationships, the role of the archive, and their experiences as interdisciplinary artists.
About Memories in Motion:
This film traces the spaces, moments, and relationships that have shaped artist Mildred Howard across eight decades of life rooted in the East Bay. Moving from her Berkeley childhood home to the neighborhood where she raised her twins, and through the cities that now hold her public works, Memories in Motion: Selected Stories of Mildred Howard shows how Howard’s art grows directly from the communities, places, and experiences that surround her. In doing so, the film places Howard within a lineage of Black women whose everyday lives form a vital artistic and intellectual tradition. By revealing how Howard’s personal life is foundational to her artistic practice, the film resists drawing a line between Mildred the artist and Mildred the person—showing how her roles as mother, grandmother, food connoisseur, music lover, and mentor are essential to the creative life she has built.
GALLERY ACTIVITIES
KORET PLAZA | LOWER LEVEL12:00–4:00 pm Pick up a Juneteenth gallery guide and explore our galleries to learn more about Black changemakers and collectives from the Bay Area.
GREAT HALL | MID LEVEL*1:00-2:00 pm Join us for a special edition of Gallery Chats inside Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory led by author and Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Leigh Raiford. In this informal conversation, Raiford will draw from her personal and professional experiences with Howard’s life, art practice, and this unique exhibition. The first major show to celebrate the artist’s work, this project explores memory, identity, and the African American experience. Raiford will interweave her own in-depth knowledge and background in teaching, researching, curating, and writing about Black visuality. This Gallery Chat will invite visitors to reflect on how personal memory and collective history shape the broader stories that define us through the lens of this beloved Bay Area artist.
ALL GALLERIES | LOWER, MID, UPPER LEVELS1:00-3:00 pm Moving beyond the traditional museum tour, Gallery Chats invite visitors to engage in conversation, ask questions, and connect with OMCA facilitators who blend content expertise with lived experience to spark meaningful dialogue and new perspectives. Gallery Chat facilitators can be found in OMCA’s Great Hall Special Exhibitions and the Core Galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences. Gallery Chats are included with Museum admission.
* Limited seating. Doors will open 15 minutes before start time.