By Amanda Cooper
In celebration of Black Independence Day, nineteen Atlanta artists take over the historic Flatiron building in Downtown Atlanta. One notorious organization associated with the Flatiron Building was the Ku Klux Klan.
Historian Kenneth Jackson states in The Ku Klux Klan in the City 1915-1930 that the "hate" group had its first office in a loft of the Georgia Savings Bank Building (1920s name for the Flatiron) and that Imperial Kleagle Edward Young Clarke had a recruiting office in the building. City Directories show only that Clarke had a business office there, and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan had prominently displayed addresses at other locations in the city--never in the Flatiron Building officially.
Each artist celebrated Black Independence Day, known as Juneteenth and all its glory, by transforming the building into an outdoor black art gallery exhibition. The creator of the event Ash, Founder, and CEO of Power Haus Creative, says she was asked to create the event by Center for Civic Innovation and C4 Atlanta because white-owned companies wanted to do something to celebrate Juneteenth.
Several artists spoke with V-103/WAOK's Amanda Cooper about their vision. The outdoor gallery is located at 84 Peachtree St NW (Peachtree and Luckie St) and will be up until Monday, June 22.
