Participate in Echoes of Liberation: A Day of Welcome
Guelph, Ont., July 24, 2025 – As part of their Echoes of Liberation project, Kween and Rachele Lovell, Guelph’s 2025 Artists-in-Residence, are welcoming participants in the Walk to Freedom for a day of rest, reflection and collective activation as they pass through the city.
Echoes of Liberation: A Day of Welcome
Royal City Park Gazebo
Gordon Street, Guelph
July 25
2:30–4:30 p.m.
Kween and Rachele, in partnership with the Guelph Black Heritage Society, BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library and with the full support of The Buttahfly Initiative, are inviting the Guelph community to participate in the event at the gazebo in Royal City Park on July 25, between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. This gathering offers a space to honour the walkers’ journey, uplift Guelph’s Black histories and participate in a shared moment of solidarity. This is not a performance or a spectacle—it is a circle of care.
This event is grounded in:
- rest as resistance,
- movement and story as medicine, and
- witnessing as a practice of freedom.
Attend to gather in reflection, join in artistic offerings, and experience a living dialogue between past and present—between those walking and those holding space.
About the Walk to Freedom
The Walk to Freedom is a 15-day, cross-border pilgrimage tracing historic Underground Railroad routes from Niagara Falls, NY, to Owen Sound, ON. Led by Saladin Allah and Ken Johnston, the walk honours the stories and struggles of freedom-seekers whose footsteps reshaped nations. Along the way, walkers are hosted by Black communities, artists and organizations who share the responsibility of remembrance and resistance.
Guelph marks an important stop on this journey—not just historically, but spiritually. It is home to Heritage Hall, a former British Methodist Episcopal Church built by formerly enslaved Black people, and now a hub for cultural preservation under the stewardship of the Guelph Black Heritage Society.
About Guelph’s 2025 Artists-in-Residence
Kween (she/her) is a multi-hyphenate artist, advocate, and community leader based in Guelph, known for her work at the intersections of creativity and justice.
Raechele Lovell (she/they) is a choreographer, performance artist, and cultural worker creating work that centres Black liberation, embodied storytelling, and ancestral care.
Together, through their residency Echoes of Liberation, they are weaving movement, memory, and Black futurity across the city of Guelph.
Learn more about the artists on the City’s Artist-in-Residence webpage.
About the Artist-in-Residence Program
The City of Guelph’s Artist-in-Residence program aims to broaden the community’s experience of the arts by inviting artists to engage with the public and showcase their creative practices while animating public spaces. The program aligns with the vision laid out in Guelph’s Culture Plan, fostering innovation through creativity, curiosity, and collaborative expression.
Media contact
Zachary Cox
Communications Officer
City of Guelph
[email protected]