The Fleetwood Jourdain Art Guild Gallery was rechristened on June 21 as part of the Citywide Juneteenth celebrations. The new gallery space, only a wall away from the previous location in Room 2200 and just off the main hall at the Morton Civic Center,
offers the opportunity for more people to see the artwork. The space had served for years as a break-room and waiting area, with a few tables and vending machines.
Retired Mayor Lorraine Morton, who attended the re-opening, told the RoundTable that the late Mamie Smith, then-director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, established the art gallery in an upstairs room at the Center, 1655 Foster St., where artwork from the Fleetwood-Jourdain Art Guild was showcased. Since 2012, many of the paintings, which convey or document black history in Evanston, have been displayed there.
