11 Creators of Color to Support This Juneteenth (and Beyond)

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Juneteenth is not just another square on the calendar, another excuse for a sale banner, or a holiday that should be reduced to red velvet cupcakes and “freedom-themed” tote bags. It is a deeply meaningful day in American history, commemorating June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally received word of emancipation. Today, Juneteenth is a moment for remembrance, learning, celebration, and action.

One practical action? Support creators of colorespecially Black and BIPOC makers whose work brings beauty, culture, craft, history, and fresh perspective into everyday life. And no, “support” does not only mean buying something in a panic at 11:58 p.m. on June 19. It can mean sharing their work, commissioning them, crediting them properly, recommending them to a friend, subscribing to their newsletter, or becoming the kind of customer who does not vanish faster than a missing sock after laundry day.

Below are 11 creators of color worth knowing, following, celebrating, and supporting this Juneteenth and beyond. From sculptural ceramics to handwoven textiles, sustainable pet goods, heirloom linens, and handmade brooms that make sweeping feel suspiciously elegant, these makers prove that creativity is not just decoration. It is culture, memory, skill, business, and sometimes, yes, a very beautiful mug.

Why Supporting Creators of Color Matters Beyond Juneteenth

Juneteenth invites us to look honestly at history while asking what freedom, equity, and opportunity look like now. Supporting creators of color is one small but meaningful way to move from symbolic celebration to practical investment. When people buy from independent makers, share their work, and invite them into collaborations, they help build visibility and economic momentum.

That matters because creative businesses often operate at the intersection of art and entrepreneurship. A textile designer is not only choosing colors. A ceramicist is not only shaping clay. A furniture maker is not only sanding wood until their arms file an official complaint. They are building brands, managing production, telling cultural stories, hiring collaborators, paying suppliers, and trying to keep creativity alive in a marketplace that does not always make room equally.

11 Creators of Color to Support This Juneteenth and Beyond

1. Lalese Stamps of Lolly Lolly Ceramics

Lalese Stamps, the creative force behind Lolly Lolly Ceramics, has built a design studio known for transforming everyday objects into playful, sculptural pieces. Her work became especially recognized through ceramic mugs that turned function into personality. These are not the mugs you hide in the back of the cabinet for guests you barely like. These are the mugs you display proudly, the ones that make morning coffee feel like it has hired a stylist.

What makes Lolly Lolly Ceramics stand out is its balance of experimentation and usefulness. The forms can feel bold, rounded, architectural, or whimsical, yet they remain connected to daily rituals. Supporting Stamps means supporting a creator who treats ordinary household objects as opportunities for imagination. Follow her drops, share her work, and pay attention to the way she expands ceramics into furniture, interiors, and broader design conversations.

2. Hana Getachew of Bolé Road Textiles

Hana Getachew founded Bolé Road Textiles after merging her background in interior design with her love of Ethiopian handwoven fabrics. Based in New York, her brand is inspired by Ethiopian colors, patterns, and craft traditions. The result is a rich collection of pillows, rugs, towels, and home textiles that bring warmth and story into a room without shouting for attention like an over-caffeinated throw pillow.

Bolé Road Textiles is a strong example of cultural heritage expressed through modern design. Getachew works with artisans and traditional weaving methods, creating pieces that feel both rooted and contemporary. Supporting Bolé Road Textiles is not just about decorating a sofa. It is about valuing craft, honoring cultural influence, and choosing home goods with a story deeper than “it matched the curtains.”

3. Tracie Hervy, Ceramic Artist

Tracie Hervy creates ceramic pieces that feel refined, quiet, and beautifully intentional. Her vases and vessels often carry a sense of proportion and simplicity that makes them easy to live with but difficult to ignore. In a world of objects begging for attention, Hervy’s ceramics have the confidence of someone who does not need to raise their voice to own the room.

Her work is especially appealing for people who appreciate handmade pieces with a calm, architectural quality. A vase by Hervy can hold flowers, anchor a shelf, or simply exist as a sculptural object. Supporting her work means valuing the patient, hands-on discipline of ceramics, where every curve, glaze, and finish requires judgment, timing, and skill.

4. Ajiri Aki of Madame de la Maison

Ajiri Aki is the founder of Madame de la Maison, a Paris-based lifestyle brand centered on antique tableware, linens, and the art of gathering. Nigeria-born and Texas-raised, Aki brings a global perspective to entertaining, mixing decorative arts, vintage finds, and joyful hospitality. Her work reminds us that a table is not just a place to put plates. It is a stage for conversation, memory, food, laughter, and the occasional dramatic debate over who made the best potato salad.

Madame de la Maison is perfect for anyone who loves thoughtful tablescapes, antique charm, and linens that make dinner feel like an occasioneven when dinner is takeout and the occasion is “I survived Tuesday.” Supporting Aki’s work can mean buying from her collections, learning from her approach to entertaining, or following her content for inspiration on creating beauty without making hospitality feel stiff.

5. Briana Thornton and Maggie Cassidy of Aesthete Tea

Aesthete Tea, founded by Briana Thornton with herbal blends developed in collaboration with her mother, herbalist Maggie Cassidy, is a Portland-based tea brand with roots in wellness, sourcing, and community. The brand is known for organic loose-leaf teas and herbal blends that feel thoughtful from ingredient to packaging.

There is something especially meaningful about a mother-daughter creative business built around care. Tea is not flashy. It does not burst into the room wearing sequins. But it creates pauses, rituals, and small moments of restoration. Supporting Aesthete Tea means supporting a brand that treats tea as more than a beverage. It becomes a daily practice, a comfort, and sometimes the only thing standing between you and replying “per my last email” with too much emotional honesty.

6. Bryan Edwards of Hummingbird + Hawk

Bryan Edwards is the founder of Hummingbird + Hawk, a company known for wooden furniture and home objects with clean lines and sustainable sensibility. His background spans several disciplines, including dance and design, and that layered experience shows in the way his pieces combine function, movement, and restraint.

Hummingbird + Hawk’s work often features bamboo, brass, and careful attention to leftover materials. The design language feels calm, subtle, and influenced by thoughtful joinery. This is furniture and homeware for people who like objects that do their job beautifully without acting like they need their own publicist. Supporting Edwards means supporting a maker who brings sustainability, precision, and multidisciplinary creativity into modern home design.

7. Johanna Howard of Johanna Howard Home

Johanna Howard Home is built around throws, pillows, and textiles designed with comfort, longevity, and visual softness in mind. Johanna Howard’s background in fashion design is visible in the way her home goods balance pattern, texture, and practical elegance. Her pieces are the kind that make a sofa look finished and make a person say, “I’ll just sit for five minutes,” which is often how accidental naps begin.

Her brand’s appeal lies in the idea that home textiles should feel lived-in, not overly precious. Supporting Johanna Howard Home is a way to invest in design that values durability and warmth. It is also a reminder that soft goods are not minor details. A good throw can change the mood of a room, rescue a chilly evening, and hide the evidence of a couch that has seen too many snack-based decisions.

8. Angela Medlin of House Dogge

Angela Medlin founded House Dogge, a Portland-based eco-conscious pet goods brand inspired by her love of dogs and her extensive career in product and apparel design. Medlin has worked with major global brands, and she brings that experience into sustainable dog toys, collars, beds, and lifestyle goods designed for both pets and their humans.

House Dogge proves that pet products do not have to look like they were designed during a sugar rush in a neon factory. The brand focuses on modern simplicity, safer materials, comfort, and giving back to dog rescue organizations. Supporting House Dogge means supporting a designer who saw a need for better pet products and built a brand with purpose. Also, if your dog gets a stylish upgrade and starts acting like an interior design critic, that is between you and your dog.

9. Emmanuel Olunkwa of E&Ko.

Emmanuel Olunkwa is an artist, designer, editor, and creative thinker behind E&Ko., a furniture and object line known for playful forms and functional pieces. His work sits at the intersection of design, culture, and everyday living. E&Ko. pieces often feel sculptural, but they are not frozen in gallery seriousness. They invite use, presence, and a little bit of curiosity.

Supporting Olunkwa means supporting a creator whose practice stretches across disciplines. In an era when many creatives are expected to fit into one neat box, his work reminds us that creative identity can be fluid. A table can be a table and a conversation piece. A chair can hold a body and an idea. A small object can shift the energy of a room without requiring a marching band.

10. Jason Evege of Linoto

Jason Evege is the founder and creative director of Linoto, a linen brand known for bedding, towels, table linens, and home textiles made in Westchester County, New York. Linoto emphasizes bold color, workmanship, and long-lasting linen goods that become softer and more beloved with use.

There is a quiet luxury to real linen. It wrinkles, yes, but in a charming waylike it has read poetry and refuses to apologize for having texture. Linoto’s appeal comes from quality materials, careful sewing, and a commitment to making goods that can last. Supporting Linoto means supporting domestic production, craft, and the idea that everyday home basics deserve serious attention.

11. Amina Haswell of Prairie Breeze Folk Arts Studio

Amina Haswell of Prairie Breeze Folk Arts Studio creates handmade brooms and brushes rooted in traditional broomcraft. Based in Canada, Haswell’s work turns a humble household tool into something beautiful, practical, and almost heirloom-like. Her brooms are reminders that utility can be artful and that even sweeping can have dignity. Yes, the dust bunnies may still be rude, but at least the broom looks magnificent.

Prairie Breeze Folk Arts Studio celebrates a craft that many people overlook until they see it done well. Supporting Haswell means supporting folk art, hand skills, and slow-made objects that connect the present to older traditions. Her work is especially meaningful in a culture that often replaces things quickly. A handmade broom asks us to slow down, care for our tools, and maybe clean the corner we have been pretending not to see.

How to Support Creators of Color Without Being Performative

Buy with intention, not guilt

Shopping from creators of color should not feel like checking a box or performing goodness for social media applause. Buy what you genuinely value, can afford, and will use. Thoughtful purchasing is more sustainable than a one-time holiday splurge that ends with buyer’s remorse and a confused credit card statement.

Share their work properly

If you post a creator’s work, name them. Tag them. Credit the photographer when possible. Do not treat someone’s design like decorative internet confetti. Visibility can lead to sales, press, collaborations, and long-term recognition.

Commission and collaborate fairly

If you are a business owner, editor, stylist, designer, event planner, or content creator, consider hiring creators of color for paid opportunities. Exposure is not a currency, no matter how confidently people try to spend it. Pay fairly, communicate clearly, and respect creative boundaries.

Support all year long

Juneteenth can be a starting point, but it should not be the finish line. Follow creators in July. Buy holiday gifts in December. Recommend them in March. Include them in your sourcing lists, gift guides, design boards, and client presentations throughout the year.

Experiences Related to Supporting Creators of Color This Juneteenth and Beyond

One of the most meaningful experiences connected to supporting creators of color is realizing how much story lives inside everyday objects. A mug is not just a mug when you know the ceramicist shaped it by hand, experimented with form, tested glazes, and built a creative identity around turning daily rituals into art. A pillow is not just a pillow when its pattern carries heritage, place, and memory. A broom is not just a broom when it reflects folk craft passed through hands, workshops, and years of practice.

For many people, the first step is simple: replacing passive scrolling with active curiosity. Instead of only admiring beautiful objects online, pause and learn who made them. Read the brand’s “about” page. Notice whether the creator explains a cultural influence, a family story, a material choice, or a mission. That tiny shift changes the whole shopping experience. Suddenly, a purchase is not just “cute home thing arrives in box.” It becomes participation in a creative ecosystem.

Another experience is discovering how much better gift-giving feels when it becomes personal. Giving a friend a handmade ceramic vase, a beautifully woven textile, a tea blend from an independent brand, or a linen piece made by a small studio feels different from grabbing the nearest generic item from a big-box shelf. The gift carries a story. You get to say, “I found this maker and thought of you,” which sounds much better than, “I panicked in aisle seven.”

Supporting creators of color can also reshape how we decorate our homes. Instead of chasing trends that expire faster than a forgotten avocado, you begin to collect objects with meaning. A room becomes layered with culture, craft, and intention. It feels less like a showroom and more like a life. Pieces from independent makers often bring texture and personality that mass-produced decor cannot easily copy.

There is also a community experience. When you attend markets, visit small shops, subscribe to newsletters, or share a creator’s work, you become part of the network that helps creative businesses survive. You may not see the full impact immediately, but small actions accumulate. A repost can introduce a maker to a buyer. A review can build trust. A repeat purchase can help stabilize income. A recommendation can open a door.

Most importantly, supporting creators of color beyond Juneteenth teaches consistency. It is easy to care loudly on a holiday. It is more meaningful to care quietly and repeatedly when no one is watching. That may mean setting a personal habit: one gift per season from an independent BIPOC maker, one monthly share of a creator you admire, or one intentional purchase when replacing something for your home. These habits do not need to be dramatic. They just need to last.

Conclusion: Make Juneteenth Support a Year-Round Practice

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, but it is also a reminder that freedom must be supported by opportunity, visibility, and sustained investment. The 11 creators featured here represent different mediums, backgrounds, and design philosophies, yet they share something powerful: each turns creativity into a bridge between culture and daily life.

Support does not have to be complicated. Buy when you can. Share when you admire. Credit always. Recommend often. Return throughout the year. Whether you are sipping tea from an artful mug, wrapping yourself in a beautiful throw, setting a thoughtful table, or sweeping the floor with a handmade broom that looks more stylish than most furniture, remember this: creativity thrives when people choose to value it.

This Juneteenth, celebrate with reflection. Celebrate with learning. Celebrate with joy. And when the holiday passes, keep showing up. Creators of color deserve more than seasonal attention. They deserve lasting support, enthusiastic customers, fair opportunities, and a permanent place in the design, craft, and cultural conversations they already help shape.