Event Details
Greetings~Free and open to the public, accept this invitation to recognize and celebrate with many others, the 400th/(2026) ANNIVERSARY of PINKSTER, the AFRO-Dutch holiday, on SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2026 (rain or shine, outdoors and/or indoors) from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM at the site of The AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND, 290 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10007.
PINKSTER is the Dutch name for Pentecost and from which a religious holiday was created to celebrate spring and the bringing together of families, friends and communities. Enslaved African Black People eventually transitioned the holiday into a unique Afro-Dutch one that came to serve as a week of "temporary freedom" in that they were "allowed" to be relieved from the "can't see to can't see," endless plantation work burdens and during which time, they were "permitted" to travel, earn money and gather in groups (without being regarded as riotious) as well as a holiday during which to see separated/sold off family members, preserve and pass on memory, culture, and "history" to their progeny and next generations so they would learn and know how to resist being enslaved.
GREG MILLS, renown Art Curator who has functioned as such in the heart of the Village of Harlem for over thirty-one years (and an alum of SVA (School of Visual Arts NYC) is one of the many PARTICIPATING VISUALARTISTS whose artworks will be in the Artt Exhibition at the request of the event Co-organizer and Art Curator, ValStyle. Greg Mills' paintings: ""I AM A MAN" (his ongoing visual art triptych project) and his massive 4 feet by 12 feet art banner entitled "FREEDOM" which he created in TRIBUTE to TONI MORRISON (and which piece he displayed in 2023 during the 60th Anniversary of the "March on Washington") are contemplative, provoking and most apropos to the purpose of the PINKSTER 400th (1626-2026) CELEBRATION.
The four-hour plus 400th PINKSTER ANNIVERSARY Celebratory will begin the OPEN CEREMONY with LIBATION at 11:00 AM followed by the delivery of *Awards, Sashes and Special Honors as curated by Dr. Norvell, and live entertainment will offer the melodious chorus of "Wednesdays Sings." The Art Exhibition will be on display throughout the duration of thebevent as will be the fashion segment.
Celebrate with us from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM in the "foreground" of PINKSTER 400/2026 against the "backdrop" of the 250/2026, America's Declaration of "(Inter)dependence."
(For more information regarding this announcement, email <gmillsopenstudio@gmail.com> or <vipuniverse@aol.com>
*DR. LORENZO PACE, PhD <https://lorenzopace.com> one of PINKSTER's 2026 Awardees, is an nonagenarian African~American Author, Artist and Sculptor. At the event admire and appreciate Dr. Pace's sculpture entitled: TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT, a massive granite outdoor sculpture that towers at over 50 feet with a weight of 300 tons as it "triumphs" on the Colonial-era African-Burial Ground ("discovered" in 1991) upon which its support structure inscription "alludes to the slave trade's Middle Passage" (Trans-Atlantic Crossing").
Announcement artwork entitled "The Touch of Spring" is by ValStyle.