IKEA Round Rock opens Juneteenth exhibit

ROUND ROCK (KXAN) -- IKEA is known for its unique approach to shopping and affordable, eclectic furniture and decor, but the Round Rock location is adding something new to its store.

IKEA Round Rock on Monday unveiled a Juneteenth exhibit that focuses on the history of the holiday, the store said in a press release. The exhibit was curated by Carre Adams, the museum director and curator for the Washington Carver Museum.

The exhibit is the first of what the store said will be a monthly rotation of installations focusing on diversity and inclusion, as well as "culturally relevant holiday celebrations and commemorations, local history, Swedish history and sustainability."

The Juneteenth exhibit will be open through July 9 in the IKEA Restaurant.

History of Juneteenth

Juneteenth marks the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.

The celebrations began with enslaved people in Galveston, Texas. Although President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in 1863, it could not be enforced in many places in the South until the Civil War ended in 1865, per the Associated Press.

This year marks only the third that it has been observed as a federal holiday, after President Joe Biden in 2021 signed a bill passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday.