In celebration of Juneteenth, 19 Atlanta artists took over the historic Flatiron building in Downtown Atlanta on Saturday. The iconic building is associated with the Ku Klux Klan making the takeover on Black Independence Day a cathartic experience.
In the book, The Ku Klux Klan in the City 1915-1930, Historian Kenneth Jackson states that the KKK 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.
During the takeover, 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 the Center for Civic Innovation and C4 Atlanta because white-owned companies wanted to do something impactful to celebrate Juneteenth.
The outdoor gallery is located at 84 Peachtree St NW (Peachtree and Luckie St) and will be up until Monday, June 22, 2020.
