Freedom Festival

The Freedom We Make : Queer Artists on Sound, Struggle, and Sanctuary Spaces
2025-06-29 12:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | online
You haven’t missed it. Watch on YouTube.
12-2pm PDT / 2-4 pm CDT/ 3-4 pm EDT. How do queer artists create spaces of freedom-not just for survival, but for creative process?
Amid the federal administration’s threats to sanctuary jurisdictions, MovingGround initiated Sanctuary Spaces, an art-action network to share narratives and shed light on people’s lives directly impacted through conversation, performance, and co-creating live and experiential Sanctuary Spaces together. From Window, the Black lesbian vocalist and author of Black Lesbian Bedtime Stories, to Mister Lady Zen, an internationally acclaimed composer, cabaret artist, poet, and queer elder. Together these artists use sound, word, and community to build sanctuaries. Meanwhile, Najee Rene aka “Casino,” the Berlin-based musician and podcaster behind BABE: Black American Berlin Expat, amplifies diasporic voices across borders.
Together with Freedom Festival and the Freedomista, Lisa Aurora Calderon, co-founder of Naming Gallery and ToMaRo Gallery invited MovingGround Artistic Director Krista DeNio to co-moderate this panel where we ask the panelists to share: How do we create Sanctuary, Safety, and Protection? How does art become a tool for peace in the face of chaos? How do we preserve sanity while fighting for liberation? And what does it mean to teach, create, and thrive when governments change abruptly? Join us for a conversation on music, memory, and the radical act of making room for ourselves.
Incredible Panelists and Organizers! ::
CO-ORGANIZERS / MODERATORS:

Lisa Aurora – ToMaRoGallery.com
Krista DeNio – MovingGround

PANELISTS/ ARTISTS

Window – Vocalist, Singer Songwriter, Artist, and Author of Black Lesbian Bedtime Stories.
Najee Rene aka “Casino” – The Emperor’s Tarot and BABE Black American Berlin Expat
Mister Lady Zen- Internationally acclaimed composer, cabaret artist, poet, and queer elder. Learn more about her work here.

Registration and Fee:
$5-50 sliding scale. Get tickets below. Additional donations can be made to Venmo | MovingGround; write one word in the payment note that gives or creates in you a sense of sanctuary
**Please note that your contribution goes directly to paying the artist fees for all panel experts!
12-2pm PDT / 2-4 pm CDT/ 3-4 pm EDT.

Freedom From the Machine: The Uses and Abuses of AI
2025-07-01 15:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | online
You haven’t missed it. Watch on YouTube.
12 pm PDT/ 2 pm CDT/ 3pm EDT
The increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of “Large Language Models” such as Chat-GPT, or generative image models such as Dali opens up the possibility of increased productivity as well as individual expression. Much like other tools, AI also has the potential to be used either carelessly or with malicious intent. To understand both the benefits and the pitfalls, it is important to understand how AI is implemented, what tasks it can do well, what it can’t do well, and how we can guard against malicious use.
Join us for this session that will introduce some of the fundamentals of AI, provide some hands-on experience with using these tools, and open to a discussion about how they may shape our lives in the future. Open to all. No AI experience necessary.
Discussion Leads: Loretta Cheeks and Nick Gross

Online Embodiment Touching Closeup Love: a leaderless and leaderful embodied racial justice practice group
2025-07-01 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | online
You haven’t missed it. Watch on YouTube.
5pm PT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET
“Hope is invented every day.”
– James Baldwin quoted in Resmaa Menakem’s book The Quaking of America
Join us. We are a group of 8 people who self-organize an online, bi-weekly, leaderless and leaderful, embodied racial justice practice group. We began in response to Resmaa Menakem’s call for people to practice the offerings in his book My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies with other people, and to commit to practicing for the rest of our lives. We are organizers, healing arts practitioners, teachers, facilitators, artists, yoga therapists and retirees. We are an intergenerational group, from our 30s to our 70s, in Illinois, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Washington DC-Baltimore.
As we near 5 years of practice together, we want to open our circle up to others interested in experiencing how we gather. We’ll share what has been revealed to us over the course of our time in relationship with each other, and how we’ve evolved to shape our lives with each other’s partnership. Join us for discussion and practice that tends to our bodies and our mutual development.
Resmaa Menakem calls his landscape of practice Somatic Abolitionism, which is an embodied response to the problems of white-body supremacy. It is a “living, embodied, practice and culture of antiracism”. To learn more about Resmaa’s work, check out the Black Octopus Society. We are not experts in or teaching Resmaa’s body of work. We are gathering to share our relationships with one another and our commitment to resourcing ourselves, so we can show up more wholly and effectively in our lives and the conditions that have been created. And so, maybe, we can make small (perhaps inconceivable) shifts to these conditions, in our lifetimes.
Join us with a cup of tea and in comfortable clothing.
July 1, 2025: 5pm PT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET
Co-presenters include: C Meranda Flachs-Surmanek, Vinny Mwano Jeffrey Pulis Jennifer O’Hara Michael Burnham Jen Schneeman Beth Anne Brooks-Mwano, Barry Feldman

The Philosophy of Freedom: A Roundtable Exploration
2025-07-02 11:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | online
You haven’t missed. Watch on YouTube.
11:00 am PDT/ 1 pm CDT/ 2 pm EDT
Join us. What is the philosophy of freedom? Freedomista Joanna Wheeldin is joined by SRJC philosophy instructors Sean Martin and Dr. Alexa Forrester to discuss freedom, independence and nonviolent resistance. In this zoom meeting, we’ll dive into texts like Barbara Deming’s On Revolution and Equilibrium and Edouard Glissant’s book chapter “For Opacity.” To join the conversation, RSVP below. You’ll receive the link in an email.
Recordings of the festival events will be available on the Freedom Festival Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@FreedomFestivalUSA
Taking place on July 2nd at 11:00 am PDT/ 1 pm CDT/ 2 pm EDT.

Freedom and Independence: Fields, Streets and Stars
2025-07-02 16:30 - 17:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedom-and-independence-fields-streets-and-stars/
You haven’t missed it. Watch on YouTube.
4:30pm PT / 6:30pm CT / 7:30pm ET
Join us in this online conversation with astrophysicist, Dr. Hakeem Oluyesi. You may know Dr. Oluyesi from his appearance on The Science Channel’s Outrageous Acts of Science, conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson on StarTalk or on his own Does it fly podcast. Do you know his thoughts and experience of freedom and independence?
Hosted in conversation by Dr. Holmes, we’ll explore Dr. Oluyesi’s experience of freedom in the rural south, in academia at Tougaloo College and Stanford University. We’ll walk through what he has learned from his communities and history that now shapes how he creates opportunities that build bridges from fields and streets to the stars.
Hakeem Oluyesi is CEO of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. A society with a history of inviting everyone–amateurs and experts– to participate, to learn and to engage in the love of stars, astronomy and physics.
Raquell Holmes is Associate Director of EdEon STEM Learning at Sonoma State University bringing high-end technology platforms to teachers and students in rural high schools and middle schools. Check out the STEMACES program for professional development opportunities.
July 2nd, 4:30pm PT / 6:30pm CT / 7:30pm ET

What to us is the Fourth of July? Does Freedom Ring True
2025-07-03 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | online
12 pm PDT/ 2pm CDT/ 3pm EDT The Declaration of Independence is one of America’s significant founding documents. On its face, it is a declaration of war. A look at the structure of the document, it follows the archetype of 18th century enlightenment thinking, laying out fundamental principles drawn from the laws of nature and deriving conclusions based on these principles. But over all this, the document lays out the values that the founders considered to be fundamental to the creation of a government, and though imperfect, the values for which the country should continuously strive.
72 years later, Frederick Douglass was asked to deliver an Independence Day address to the Rochesters Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. The address, entitled “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is a lament of the celebration of independence while so many in the US were enslaved. In contrast to the appeal to logic of the Declaration of Independence which strives for lofty goals, Douglass’s address points out the hypocrisy inherent in the invitation and national celebration. Even so, Douglass ends his speech “drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence [and] the great principles it contains”.
We invite you all to join us at the Freedom Festival for a collective reading of excerpts from both the Declaration of Independence and Fredrick Douglass’s speech “What to a slave is the Fourth of July?”. We’ll explore in conversation the relationship between these documents and freedom. Collectively, we can create together our meaning of freedom and the Fourth of July.
Discussion Leaders: Nick Gross, Rachell Moore, and Jay Newman
Nick Gross
Jay “Glitch” Newman
Rachelle Moore

Creative Playground - Let's Create Freedom and Liberation Together
2025-07-03 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | online
As part of the Freedom Festival, we invite you to join members of our Monthly Creative Playground for a special workshop to explore, perform and celebrate freedom and independence.
Date: July 3rd, 2024 at 3:30 pm PDT/ 6:30 pm EDT
We started the Creative Playground with a collective intent: that exploring creativity together is therapeutic. We have created a space where we foster our creativity, and develop emotionally as well as artistically. We come together on Zoom the first Thursday of every month. Participants share, respond to each other and we create with our varied histories, identities, stories and emotional responses to living in a world where crisis is the norm. In the Creative Playground we use the expressive arts (theater/improv, poetry, movement, music, drawing/collage) to create improvised conversations and art together.
Together we will explore what it means for people in America and internationally to come together to explore and celebrate freedom from slavery and our ability to collectively self-organize. All people have an experience of what freedom and independence mean to them. Through this festival, we want to create OUR experience of liberation.
Register Here!

Freedom Dreams Open Mic & Festival Finale
2025-07-04 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedom-dreams-open-mic/
You haven’t missed it. Watch on YouTube.
1:00 pm PDT/ 3pm CDT/ 4 pm EDT
On the most celebrated occasion in the world, independence from Britain, we come together to explore and share our dreams of freedom. The Freedom Festival creates a platform, a stage for people to speak, to say what we have to say in our world of pain, love and dreams. In this final Freedom Festival event, we invite you to the stage in this poetry open mic. Hosted by improvscience duo, Ashna Ali and Dr. Holmes. We’ll play with the poetry of life and word as we celebrate what are and have been able to create together.
Raised in Italy and based in Brooklyn, Ashna Ali is a queer and disabled child of the Bangladeshi diaspora, and the author of The Relativity of Living Well (Bone Bouquet, 2024) and the Substack, PAIN BABY. Their work is featured or forthcoming from The Margins, Indiana Review, Sun Dog Lit, and beyond. A Best-of-the-Net nominated poet, they are the poetry editor for Epiphany Magazine and co-editor of Dead End Zine with Hunter Hodkinson. With Divya Victor, they are the co-host of the poetry podcast The Source, produced by Asian American Writers Workshop. They hold a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and are earning their MFA in the low-residency Creative Writing program at Randolph College.
Sign up to read: Participants who want to read should log on during the first 10 mins of the event to sign up and be prepared to read a poem for no more than 3 mins.

Freedomistas - Building Together - Welcome All
2025-07-12 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedomistas-building-together-welcome-all/
Are you excited, curious or interested in the Freedom Festival? In the Freedomistas zoom call, we’ll playfully explore and discover what each of us have, can and may bring to creating explorations of freedom and independence with neighbors and loved ones.
Meet people around the country and the world also inspired by the Freedom Festival. Discover what others have done and see how you want to participate in the festival.

Freedomistas - Building Together - Welcome All
2026-03-28 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedomistas-building-together-welcome-all-march-2026/

Freedomistas - Building Together - Welcome All
2026-04-11 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedomistas-building-together-welcome-all-april-2026/

Freedomistas - Building Together - Welcome All
2026-04-25 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/april-25-freedomistas-building-together-welcome-all/

Freedomistas - Building Together - Welcome All
2026-05-09 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedomistas-building-together-welcome-all-may-9-2026/

Freedomistas - Building Together - Welcome All
2026-05-23 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/freedomistas-building-together-welcome-all-may-23/

Community Educational Forum — Immigration Matters: A Conversation on Policy and Law
2026-06-11 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | International Civil Rights Center & Museum, 134 South Elm Street, Greensboro, NC, 27401, United States
This community educational forum will bring together legal practitioners and community leaders to discuss the current landscape of U.S. immigration law and policy, including DHS detention practices and the broader impact of policy changes on communities. The event will feature expert panelists and offer attendees the opportunity to learn, ask questions, and engage in meaningful dialogue both in person and online. Click here to register.
Facilitated by Dr. Omar Ali, Dean Emeritus at UNC Greensboro and Senior Fellow at the ICRCM, the panel will include Katherine Reynolds, Director of the Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic at Elon Law School; Abdul Omer, Immigration Staff Attorney at the Center for New North Carolinians; Heather Scavone, most recently serving as Associate Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, at DHS; and Kathy Hinshaw, Chair of the Latino Community Coalition of Guilford.
“At a precarious time in the United States regarding immigration practices and ever-shifting policies, we are fortunate to have local partnerships to create dialogue and help educate the public,” said Dr. Ali. “Hosted at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in downtown Greensboro, with deeply caring community leaders and experts in immigration law offering their knowledge, those who attend either in person or online will have a chance to learn, ask questions, and offer their own unique perspectives and experiences.”
Host: Dr. Omar Ali

About the Civil Rights Museum:
Animating an iconic landmark recognized across the globe, the International Civil Rights Center & Museum opened in 2010 as a comprehensive museum of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and an innovative educational organization devoted to understanding and advancing civil and human rights in this country and the world. It commemorates the Feb. 1, 1960, beginning of sit-ins at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, by the N.C. A&T Four college students — David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr (now Jibreel Khazan), and Joseph McNeil — reflecting careful planning carried out with colleagues at Bennett College. Their non-violent direct action challenged the American People to make good on promises of personal equality and civic inclusion enunciated in the Constitution. The fast-spreading Sit-In Movement ignited by the Greensboro protests served as a historical inflection point, renewing the Civil Rights Movement as a whole.
Sit-In Movement, Inc., was founded in 1993 to acquire and restore the F.W. Woolworth’s site of these transformative events and to establish the Center and Museum as a monument to the bravery and initiative of visionary young advocates of full citizenship and social justice.

Life On Art Studio Opening: Unbound, Visions of Hope
2026-06-12 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Life on Art, 133 Copeland Street, Petaluma, CA, United States
Life on Art in Petaluma, CA is having its Studio Opening featuring two exhibits – Unbound created by 800 participants and Visions Of Hope created by incarcerated artists. The work of Damon Fox and other artists in residence will be showcased.
Join us at Life on Art for free food, drinks & fun as we open these gallery exhibits as part of Freedom Festival 2026. All welcome – get inspired

Freedom Festival at Sonoma County's 56th Juneteenth Celebration
2026-06-13 10:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | MLK Park, Santa Rosa, California, 1671 Hendley Street, Santa Rosa, CA, United States
Join Marian Knox of Griot-A story game with heart, Joanna Wheeldin of Joanna’s Prints and Posters and other artists and organizers of the improvscience Freedom Festival at the 56th Juneteenth/MLK Celebration in Santa Rosa, CA.
Play a game, support the arts and learn about the local festival events taking place.
Dr. Holmes will take the stage at this year’s celebration as part of the welcome to and recognition of the walk and work towards freedom.
Come eat, drink, play, and learn with one another at this year’s Sonoma County Juneteenth.

improvscience Freedom Festival Opening!
2026-06-17 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | online
Join Freedomistas, hosts, volunteers and attendees as we celebrate the work and creations that make Freedom Festival 2026. You’ll hear the vision of the festival from the voices of those who organize and host events. Feel and create the vibe of the Freedom Festival. Everyone’s voice is part of creating a new joyful sound.
Hear about the many sessions, how to attend and how to see the ones you might miss. There are more than 22 events over 16 days.
Hope to see you there as we launch Freedom Festival 2026!

Host: Raquell Holmes, Founder and Director of improvscience.

Freedom-Makers: Maroons and the Underground Railroad
2026-06-18 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87697146757
This offering will be a virtual visit to the “Underground Railroad Tree” in the Guilford Woods of North Carolina. The 300-year-old Tulip Poplar tree is a living monument and witness to the freedom-seekers who were part of this eastern seaboard launching point of the Underground Railroad during the early 19th century. The great tree is located in a 350-acre forest in Greensboro, N.C. We will walk through the woods, share the history of the area, read excerpts from primary source accounts (journals and runaway ads), look at material culture and discuss the oral history of runaway enslaved people (maroons), and explore the ways in which we–people and our living world–create community and connectivity underground, overground, everywhere.
Led by historian Omar H. Ali from UNC Greensboro, the offering is part of the “Let’s Learn!: The World as Classroom” initiative of Lloyd International Honors College at UNC Greensboro and the East Side Institute in New York, in partnership with improvscience, the African American & African Diaspora Studies Program at UNC Greensboro, and the all-disciplinary honors society Phi Kappa Phi.
Greensboro is on traditional Keyauwee and Saura lands settled in the mid-18th century by Euro-Americans who drew upon enslaved African labor. The city was a launching point of the Underground Railroad, a center of textile production and distribution to the world, a catalyst of the modern civil rights movement, and is a refugee site with over 150 languages spoken in its school districts today–a global city that teaches us about cultural diversity, social justice, human geography, political economy, and world history.

Juneteenth Staged Play Reading written & directed by Enid Pickett
2026-06-18 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | New Vintage Church, 3300 Sonoma Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA, United States
June 18-20th, 2026. You are warmly invited to join us for the staged play reading about love. Love of Family, Faith, and Freedom. Three acts: 1865-1963-2025. A black family’s journey of struggle and survival living in the USA. Performed by the Enid Pickett Players. Experience this event in person or watch it streaming live.
Enid Pickett Players: Bruce Rhodes, Azalea Abrams, Elizabeth Daye, Sarah Baker, Rylan Bowers-Parr, Kafoune Diamoutene, Sabryyah Abdullah, ReEllis Dotson-Newman, Zeneta Arthur-Asgill, N’Game Gray, Nadia Hill, WoodRowe Farguheson Jr., Christopher Bowers, Erinn Anova, Sela Kerr, Shaun Greenhaigh, Keenan Webster, Enid Pickett, Lauren Ridgway.
General Admission – $20, Students and Seniors – $10
In-Person tickets can be purchased here: https://www.enidpickett.com/Juneteenth
Streaming will become live day of the event. RSVP below to receive invitation to online Q&A.

Juneteenth Staged Play Reading written & directed by Enid Pickett
2026-06-19 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | New Vintage Church, 3300 Sonoma Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA, United States
June 19th, 2026. You are warmly invited to join us for the staged play reading about love. Love of Family, Faith, and Freedom. Three acts: 1865-1963-2025. A black family’s journey of struggle and survival living in the USA. Performed by the Enid Pickett Players. Experience this event in person or watch it streaming live.
Enid Pickett Players: Bruce Rhodes, Azalea Abrams, Elizabeth Daye, Sarah Baker, Rylan Bowers-Parr, Kafoune Diamoutene, Sabryyah Abdullah, ReEllis Dotson-Newman, Zeneta Arthur-Asgill, N’Game Gray, Nadia Hill, WoodRowe Farguheson Jr., Christopher Bowers, Erinn Anova, Sela Kerr, Shaun Greenhaigh, Keenan Webster, Enid Pickett, Lauren Ridgway.
General Admission – $20, Students and Seniors – $10
In-Person tickets can be purchased here: https://www.enidpickett.com/Juneteenth
Streaming will become live day of the event. RSVP below to receive invitation to online Q&A.

Juneteenth Staged Play Reading written & directed by Enid Pickett
2026-06-20 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | New Vintage Church, 3300 Sonoma Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA, United States
June 20th, 2026. You are warmly invited to join us for the staged play reading about love. Love of Family, Faith, and Freedom. Three acts: 1865-1963-2025. A black family’s journey of struggle and survival living in the USA. Performed by the Enid Pickett Players. Experience this event in person or watch it streaming live.
Enid Pickett Players: Bruce Rhodes, Azalea Abrams, Elizabeth Daye, Sarah Baker, Rylan Bowers-Parr, Kafoune Diamoutene, Sabryyah Abdullah, ReEllis Dotson-Newman, Zeneta Arthur-Asgill, N’Game Gray, Nadia Hill, WoodRowe Farguheson Jr., Christopher Bowers, Erinn Anova, Sela Kerr, Shaun Greenhaigh, Keenan Webster, Enid Pickett, Lauren Ridgway.
General Admission – $20, Students and Seniors – $10
In-Person tickets can be purchased here: https://www.enidpickett.com/Juneteenth
Streaming will become live day of the event. RSVP below to receive invitation to online Q&A.

Sonoma County Dyke March & Lez-a-Palooza Street Fair on the Square
2026-06-21 11:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Santa Rosa City Hall Parking Lot (Route Start), 1-49 D St, Santa Rosa, CA, 95404, United States
Sonoma County DYKE MARCH is an inclusive, grassroots, intergenerational movement bringing together Lesbian, Queer, Transgender, Non-Binary, Sapphic people, the full LGBTQIA2S+ spectrum, and our allies to resist attacks on our rights, bodies, and lives.​​
We honor the legacy of the Lesbians and Queer women who have been the backbone of social justice movements. We uplift Elder Lesbians, reclaim the word Dyke as a symbol of pride and defiance, and bestow this legacy on the next generation.
We organize amid immense and escalating backlash against trans lives, queer rights, reproductive freedom, marriage equality, racial justice, immigrant communities, and democracy itself. Too many have sacrificed too much for us to stand by while our rights erode.
Silence is not an option.
We march for visibility, dignity, and justice.
We say: Not here. Not now. Not ever.

Discord and Harmony : The Struggle for Freedom in the USA Through Blues, Jazz, Soul, and Hip-Hop
2026-06-21 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | online
This will be a look at-and a listen to-the role African American music has played in embodying and inspiring the ongoing struggle for freedom and full equality in the U.S.A. The session will be a mix of music video clips (Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder, among others) and informal conversation led by progressive musician and composer Dan Belmont, and life-long grassroots organizer and leader Allen Cox.

Freedom's just another word for...Improv
2026-06-23 15:00 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84212414341
Learn the story of Curtain Up! Anxiety Down!, a program that has helped to free people through improv from the debilitating impact of social anxiety.
This online one-time event will include film clips of our class and upcoming documentary Tightrope and opportunities for participants to experience the way we play in our class.
Curtains up! Anxiety Down! Lesly Fredman and Murray Dabby

Art, Rhythm & Eats
2026-06-23 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Life on Art, 133 Copeland Street, Petaluma, CA, United States
Join us at Life On Art for an exciting evening filled with food, music, creativity, and freedom! This is a first-time event hosted by your local artist, Amaya Yoshikawa, as part of Freedom Festival for this year’s Juneteenth.
There will be several free interactive art stations for your enjoyment. One of these stations will be guided by Amaya Yoshikawa, who will help you create your own artist trading cards using various art mediums provided by Life On Art, including paints, inks, colored pencils, pastels, and collage materials.
By the end, you can take your creations home, gift them to someone special, or trade with other participants! All art supplies are provided, along with food, drinks, lively music, and some beautiful artistic gifts for sale. Feel free to bring your own art mediums if you wish.
This paint night will be held at Life On Art (133 Copeland St, Suite C1A, Petaluma, CA 94952) on June 23rd from 6 pm to 8 pm. It’s a perfect chance to make new friends, bring your family, or enjoy a fun date night.
Although the event is free to the public, you are welcome to donate to Life On Art and/or donate to Freedom Festival, which would be greatly appreciated.

www.amayayoshikawa.art

Life on Art

Poetry by the Bay
2026-06-24 17:30 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Roadhouse, 1580 Eastshore Rd, Bodega Bay, CA, 94923-9758, United States
Let’s get together and talk about freedom and what it means to each of us, using the oft forgotten power of poetry. Bring something original or something that resonates with you and share it at our first mic-less open mic poetry reading.
Light snacks are provided for this after-hours event.

Experience improvscience Community Office Hours
2026-06-26 13:30 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | online
Come play with us during improvscience Community Office Hours! The community office hours are held weekly for those who work and organize within and adjacent to Dr. Raquell Holmes and improvscience. The Zoom room is for people to work, plan, and create with others.
If you want to collaborate with friends on projects, bounce ideas off one another, or just be together, that’s what we are here for. We make breakout rooms for these purposes. And, w e make time and space for you.
This Freedom Festival events will provide a taste of what you can do every week with improvscience Community Office Hours.

Musical Medicine
2026-06-27 11:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Mokawk Blade, Sebastopol, CA, United States
Come enjoy the freedom of listening to live music in a beautiful semi-rural setting. Singer-songwriter Mohawk Blade (Ava Grail) welcomes us to her serene slice of land in Sebastopol, CA, to gather beneath the oaks for a musical celebration. You’re invited to bring your own picnic, blankets and chairs to relax with your friends and family. Mohawk Blade will perform Americana-inspired songs spanning soul, gospel and folk for this mellow mid-day event.
Ava Grail, a.k.a. Mohawk Blade, is a vocal artist and song writer in Sebastopol California.

Community Building through Griot Stories
2026-06-27 13:45 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Peace and Justice, Santa Rosa, CA, 467 Sebastopol Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA, United States
Our stories are worth sharing while we can. Join this in-person storytelling session at the Peace and Justice Center in Santa Rosa, CA.
Marian Knox creator of Griot – A story game with heart! will lead us through creating new stories of our lives.
Starts at 1:45 pm at 467 Sebastopol Avenue, Santa Rosa
RSVP requested, see button.
