By Michael Foster-Sanders/campus editor
NE Campus is looking for entries for its inaugural Juneteenth art competition.
Juneteenth is the celebration of when Texas slaves learned of their emancipation in 1865, acknowledged annually on June 19.
The event’s co-host, the North Central Texas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., invites NE students to participate by submitting up to two pieces of their artwork for the event by 5 p.m. April 5. The best three works will have a chance to win three scholarship prizes ranging from $177-$531.
The themes for the competition are emancipation, freedom and the African-American experience. Students can choose what kind of artwork they want to submit such as paintings, ceramics, sculptures and photography.
Student activities coordinator Cara Walker said the event is important because most people think all slaves were freed at the time of the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, but that’s not the case.
“Many areas across the country celebrate the holiday, but the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area does not,” Walker said. “It was something that [NE Campus president] Dr. [Allen] Goben found to be important to have an event, and then Delta Sigma Theta approached the campus with having an event also, so we decided to combine forces and do it together.”
