Deceased

Jessie Woods was the founder of Urban Gateways: Center for Arts Education in Chicago, IL. One of the city's leading nonprofit arts education organizations, Urban Gateways called on the creative expertise of professional artists to deliver arts experiences to children, teachers, and parents. Considered one of the first successful teaching artist programs in the nation, Urban Gateways received the President's National Medal of Art in 1995. In the late 1970s, President Jimmy Carter appointed Woods to the National Council on the Arts. Ms. Woods led Urban Gateways until 1980, and remained on its board of directors and advisors until her death in 2004.