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Duluth exhibit marks centennial of artist-activist Jean Birkenstein Washington.DULUTH — Jean Birkenstein Washington was simply called "Jean" by everyone, including her children."One time I said, 'Mommy ...I mean, Jean,'" remembered her son Robin Washington."She said, 'You can call me Mommy.' I said, 'No, you're Jean.'" ADVERTISEMENT Jean (1926-2003) would have turned 100 this year, and the centennial is being marked by exhibits of her paintings both in Duluth and in her home city of Chicago.In Jean's lifetime, she was best known as an activist, but Robin has been working to raise awareness of her legacy as an artist."My family's goal is to have her in a rightful place as a significant artist," said Robin, who hopes to see Jean's work acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago or another major institution.Dozens of people attended a May 24 reception at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth, where 19 pieces by Jean will be on display through June 30.Robin spoke at the reception along with Amy Varsek, formerly exhibitions director at the Duluth Art Institute."I've been immersed (in) her drawings, her paintings, her story for many years now," said Varsek, who curated a DAI exhibit of Jean's work in 2019, in her remarks.In his remarks at the reception, Robin described the life of his mother, who worked as an art teacher for the Chicago Public Schools.A woman of German Jewish descent who married a Black Mexican man, Jean became a forceful voice during the Civil Rights Movement."The main battle in the north was against housing segregation and school segregation," Robin said.Jean used her access to school district maps to demonstrate that they were drawn along racial lines, thus ensuring schools would be segregated."Here she is with, what we call today, the receipts," said Robin, displaying a photo of his mother holding a map of what he described as "a gerrymandered school district" while testifying before the Chicago Board of Education.ADVERTISEMENT Robin and his brother, Glen, grew up surrounded by activism.The children participated in a historic 1963 sit-in at the Board of Education headquarters, protesting school segregation.The youngsters were even interviewed by a newspaper reporter; 9-year-old Glen described the cause while 6-year-old Robin ate cookies.Jean was also the subject of a 1961 article in Jet, describing her work connecting teen members of two Chicago street gangs and encouraging them to "join the picket lines" against segregation."She was a teacher on the West Side at the school that they went to, and they approached her to be their ambassador, if you will, to authorities (at) the Board of Education and also to each other," Robin said."One of them became my babysitter." All the while, Jean was constantly working on her own art — portraits and documentary scenes based on real people and places.Perhaps her most outstanding piece, Robin said, is among those on display in Duluth."We're forced by the light to focus inward," said Varsek about his mother's painting, "The Fight." Although the figures in that painting are rendered in abstracted geometric forms, the scene depicted is very real, Robin said."I can tell you exactly where it is," he said."It's on the West Side of Chicago at a field house called the 'Golden Dome.'" ADVERTISEMENT Other work depicts Black and Indigenous families during the era of American slavery."She's focused on real people, and she brings to us a lot of interracial relationships," Varsek said."In the 1950s, that was not common, and it wasn't necessarily accepted." In some cases, Jean worked from her own domestic surroundings.She created multiple renderings of the view out the window of her home, which included elevated train tracks."Her paintings of 'L' tracks back then weren't exactly what people wanted to see in Chicago," Robin said."Now the 'L' is iconic, but back then it was an eyesore." Although her day job was as an educator, Jean received professional art training alongside peers who achieved major recognition.She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and earlier was among the acolytes of instructor Malcolm Hackett at Chicago's Francis W.Parker School."Guess where he was from?" asked Robin about Hackett."Duluth!" Also numbering among "Hacko's Wackos," as the title of an upcoming Chicago forum puts it, were Joan Mitchell (who became a famed abstract expressionist) and Edward Gorey (who became an illustrator with a cult following).Gorey even drew a doodle in Jean's yearbook.ADVERTISEMENT Rotating art exhibits are a regular programming feature at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth, said congregation member Linda Powless when introducing Robin."We were so fortunate 20 years ago in constructing this building," Powless said."All these wonderful walls!And not a whole lot of images in the building, other than the windows." Robin was brought to Minnesota by a past relationship, and later moved to the Northland through a journalism career that included stints as editor of the Lake County News-Chronicle and the Duluth News Tribune.While Robin's not sure Jean ever came to Duluth, she was aware of Northland news due to her son's work."I sent her the Lake County News-Chronicle," Robin said."She critiqued it."