1224 W Loyola Ave, Chicago IL
April 1, 2020 to April 10, 2020
On January 4 of this year, our friend and neighbor Ramona Marquitta Rouse passed away suddenly at her home in Lincoln Square. Ramona was a point of light on our block in Rogers Park, with a magnetic smile for us every time we overlapped in our next-door storefronts. Ramona operated Salon Pastiché as an independent salon in Rogers Park for 23 years at 1226 W Loyola Ave. She is missed in our neighborhood, and across Chicagoland by her family and legions of friends.
In memory of Ramona, during the evenings of April 1 through April 10, Roman Susan Art Foundation will project solid fields of color at 1224 W Loyola Ave which approximate the tones of the neon light at Salon Pastiché. View a tribute movie and other materials remembering Ramona's life.
Contributions made to Roman Susan Art Foundation NFP during the month of April will go toward a creative initiative in honor of Ramona Marquitta Rouse planned by her family. To make a direct contribution to this project, please visit gofundme.com/f/family-of-ramona-rouse.
In honoring our mother, we are seeking to raise funds to try to open a space in Rogers Park for community members who are battling depression where they can drop in and engage in art therapy, and find respite from their pain. Ramona fiercely loved and supported those around her. It is our hope to honor her legacy by creating space for people to come and heal. All funds raised will either be used to secure space and equipment for a new therapy clinic, or will be used to donate to a mental health organization that integrates art and music in an effort to heal people who are in pain as our mother would have wanted.
–Aina-soe Rouse Cambridge & Michael Rouse Simmons-Gessesse
The first photograph of Ramona above was taken by Kristyna Archer for the feature Great Chicago hairstylists published in Timeout, October 2012. The second photo was taken April 2020. The third photo was taken after a fresh coat of paint was applied at Pastiché, October 2017. The photo below is 1226 W Loyola Ave in late April 2020.
