The Hamilton Hill Arts Center’s 24th annual Juneteenth celebration kicked off Friday.

An ongoing legacy continues to bring this celebration to the city of Schenectady.

Maragaret Cunningham founded the center in 1968 as a drop-in arts center for at-risk children. After serving as executive director for more than 20 years, she passed the responsibilities to her daughter, Miki.
Miki is also the founder of Schenectady’s Juneteenth celebration, which will mark 24 years Friday.

The torch has been passed again to Miki’s daughter Rachel.

The Hamilton Hill Arts Center serves more than 10,000 people a year. It was founded to address the needs of unsupervised youth in Schenectady’s inner city.

As executive director now, Rachel says she hopes to continue her grandmother’s legacy.

Learn about how the values have been ingrained in Rachel since she was an infant by watching the video of Faith King’s story.