The Georgia Museum of Art is glad to be the venue for many exciting celebrations, from galas and charity events to weddings and baby showers. Making sure every centerpiece is in place and the event goes according to schedule is an invaluable job that makes these events possible. The museum is excited to welcome Cassie Hawkins to its team as special events coordinator.
Hawkins is not a new face around Athens. She graduated from the University of Georgia with two bachelor’s degrees, one in photography and one in ceramics. She then moved across the country to California to attend the San Francisco Art Institute, where she got her master’s degree in photography and later accepted her first position in event planning.
“I’ve always loved art, done art and been interested in it,” Hawkins said. “And for the past 10 years I’ve been in the event coordination field. So, this position [at the museum] just felt like a perfect fit to combine my event coordination skills with my artistic background.”
Since starting at the museum in September, Hawkins has enjoyed planning a recent reception for President Morehead as a part of Spotlight on the Arts(opens in new tab).
“My last project was a big one,” she said. “It was a Spotlight on the Arts reception for President Morehead and it just turned out perfectly. The decorations were great, everybody was complimenting the food and tents and setups and everything. So far, I think that’s [been] the most fun project.”
Another big event Hawkins is working on is the opening reception for the upcoming exhibition(opens in new tab) “Wealth and Beauty: Pier Francesco Foschi and painting in Renaissance Florence(opens in new tab),” which will be the first show dedicated to the prolific artist.
Though her role at the museum does not entail too much picture-taking, Hawkins still loves creating photography in her spare time. She has been putting together an ongoing series of photographs documenting some of the most weathered and worn places in Georgia.
“For the past probably 15 years or so I’ve been working on a series of old abandoned houses around the state of Georgia,” Hawkins said. “I love to photograph decay and deterioration in any kind of old abandoned farm houses that I find or old graveyards. I love to… document and go back maybe a couple years later and rephotograph it and show that timeline of deterioration.”
When it comes to art on display at the museum, Hawkins has been captivated by the “Whitman, Alabama(opens in new tab)” exhibition. “Whitman, Alabama” is currently on display and is a combination of 23 videos taken by filmmaker Jennifer Crandall of everyday Alabama residents reading the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. Crandall juxtaposes the poetry with the lives of everyday humans in a way that is unexpected and mesmerizing.
“The ‘Whitman, Alabama’ video was so interesting,” Hawkins said. “It just captured my interest for a long time. It’s people in Alabama and they’re reading Walt Whitman and [the filmmakers] are just interviewing the people about their life and it’s really interesting. That’s probably my favorite right now.”
The museum is glad to have Hawkins as part of the team, whether she’s planning a big event, walking in the galleries or behind a camera!
By
Kathrin Merritt
