Savannah foundation saves home Black artist used as museum

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A nonprofit group plans to restore a Savannah home used by a Black artist to establish her own museum during segregation.

The Historic Savannah Foundation bought the former home of Virginia Jackson Kiah to save it from demolition. Neighbors in the surrounding Cuyler-Brownsville neighborhood applauded the move, saying it’s important to keep Kiah’s legacy alive.

“I’ve been saying someone needs to get that building and bring it back alive,” neighbor Ronald Bolden told WTOC-TV.

Kiah used the home to start her own museum in 1959 because, as a Black woman during segregation, she wasn’t allowed to enter other museums as a visitor, much less to exhibit her artwork. She became known as a civil rights activist in Savannah, where the Savannah College of Art…