As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of our museum, it’s an opportune time to look back at our history. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been featuring a post once a month about the history of the museum through the decades. This month, we take a look at the museum’s presence and history on campus in the 2010s and beyond.
Following the move from North Campus to a new state-of-the-art museum building on East Campus in 1996, it didn’t take long to realize that the museum still needed more room – for the nearly 10,000-work permanent collection as well as more space to host more visiting exhibitions and educational classes and programs. So, 12 years after the new museum building opened, it once again closed its doors for more than 2 years for a $20 million expansion funded entirely by private donations and federal grants.
In early 2011, the museum expansion was unveiled and featured an expanded 79,000-square-foot contemporary building, with additions and renovations by Gluckman Mayner Architects. The expansion featured new gallery space to house the permanent collection, an expanded lobby and the new Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden to showcase works by female artists. The renovations were duly noted by local media:
With its floor-to-ceiling glass walls, shiny new tile floors and sleek silver trimming, the entryway to the new Georgia Museum of Art . . . exudes a serene, almost church-like stillness,” noted Athens’ alt-weekly newspaper. “It’s a place where style meets function, where classic art meets playful energy.”
“More than its varied collection of indoor and outdoor pieces, the museum is just as much about the museum,” Flagpole wrote. “Its glass ceiling squares create a spectrum of prismatic colors when the sun shines. Its refreshing and novel use of natural light is a rarity for a fine arts gallery. Visitors will be happy to see that so much about both the original and expanded space is refined yet comforting, creating an environment of both hospitality and sophistication.
“It took a lot of planning, hard work and support from the community to get us where we are today,” said William U. Eiland, director of the museum at the time. “And here we are. A city on a hill. Our very own Cortona.”
Since the 2011 expansion, the museum has been able to fulfill its mission in earnest. The museum has hosted hundreds of exhibitions, lectures and educational programming, but it has also continued to expand and develop in a number of other ways:
The Thompson Collection
In 2012, Larry and Brenda Thompson donated 100 works of art by African American artists to the collection, mirroring Holbrook’s original gift, and established an endowment to fund a curatorial position studying African American and African Diasporic art. In 2015, Shawnya L. Harris became the museum’s first Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art. The Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Collection of African American Art includes paintings, prints and sculpture dating from the 1890s to the present. Exhibited in both special exhibitions and in the permanent collection galleries, the works provide a more in-depth, inclusive understanding of American art.
The Thompson Collection donation also welcomed a new yearly award, the Thompson Award, that is presented at the annual Black Art and Culture Awards. The award honors an African American artist who has made significant contributions to the visual arts. Recipients of the Thompson Award have included Harold Rittenberry, Charles Pinckney, Amalia Amaki, Emma Amos, Larry Walker, Freddie Styles and Leo Twiggs.
Backpack Tours
That same year, the museum created a new way for children and families to learn about art as they toured the galleries. Known as backpack tours, the self-directed tour kits included four folders with educational materials, supplies and activities for children to do as they reviewed each work of art in the galleries. Today, backpack tours are still popular for children and families who visit the museum. Tour kits were updated in 2022 and are available at the front desk:
Recently, the Georgia Museum of Art revised its backpack tour program, which is free for all museum visitors. The museum strives to bring people (safely) closer to art through these interactive, self-guided tours for all ages. Currently offered in English and Spanish, the backpacks are available at the museum’s front desk (just ask the gallery guide on duty for one) and provide different activities to do at each tour stop.
These backpack tours allow visitors the immersive experience of a guided tour while going at their own pace. The tours guide you through the museum’s permanent collection with activities along the way. They highlight four works in particular but also include activities that can be done with any work of the visitor’s choosing. Each backpack includes an activity sheet for families to fill out and take home as a souvenir from their visit. There are drawing materials included as well, should a visitor feel inspired to make their own creation. Drawings and activity cards can be brought home or left in the backpack for the next person to see your work.
Third Thursday
Since 2012, the local arts scene’s venues have come together via the Athens Arts Collective for a monthly arts event known as Third Thursday. As the name describes, art venues across the city stay open late on the third Thursday of each month to allow patrons who might not be able to view art on view during regular business hours. The event is still alive and well today. Monthly event previews and information are available at https://3thurs.org/
Museum Mix
Beginning 2012, the museum began hosting late night events aimed at getting students, younger residents and other Athens residents into the museum. Now held three times a year, the event is a favorite of students and often features local DJs and musicians and offers students a unique on-campus event to meet fellow students and other artists from the community. As one Red & Black article noted about one of the first Museum Mix events held:
Even a museum can party ’til midnight.
The Georgia Museum of Art will host a late-night summer party this Thursday in the Jane and Harry Wilson Sculpture Garden.
“The concept behind Museum Mix is a desire to invite people into the Sculpture Garden after hours in the middle of summer to give them a relaxed, chill event at the museum,” said Michael Lachowski, public relations specialist at GMOA.
The museum is taking the initiative to reach out to a younger generation.
“We’re excited to have an event like this and have had a positive response from young Athenians,” said Sage Rogers, events coordinator at GMOA.
This kind of event appeals to students or residents who have not yet been to the museum and those who participate in the music scene.
“This is like the summer garden parties at MOMA or Art After Dark at the Guggenheim — except it’s free,” Lachowski said.
Spotlight on the Arts
Beginning in 2012, UGA began a Fall festival, known as Spotlight on the Arts, that showcased arts events across campus. Held each month in November, the event includes a variety of performances, exhibitions, music and makes a special effort to focus on students in the arts at UGA. View the 2024 festival schedule at: https://arts.uga.edu/spotlight-on-the-arts/
Focus on Russian Art
Beginning in 2013, the museum began a new focus on Russian art, beginning with an exhibition featuring art that had (mostly) been commissioned by Catherine the Great:
This exhibition featured more than 60 works of art and books, most of which Catherine the Great commissioned for her own use or for the courtiers who received them as gifts. Other objects in the exhibition served as examples of historic precedents for the empress’ choices or represent major currents in the history of Russian art of the 17th and 18th centuries. The exhibition presented a comparison of dazzling and masterful objects that exemplify both medieval Byzantine culture, of which Russia was the successor and guardian, and the Western, neoclassical style that was the hallmark of the Enlightenment. The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue (published by the museum) contributed to the current knowledge of patronage in 18th-century Russia and to an understanding of the role of Byzantine culture in Russia’s history up to the era of neoclassicism.
In 2017, several high-profile exhibitions of Russian art resulted in a gift to establish the Parker Curator of Russian Art, and Asen Kirin, professor of art history at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, filled the role. His work in the position has resulted in research about the museum’s Russian art in the permanent collection, special exhibitions, lectures and other educational events.
The museum unveiled a new online database in 2017 that allowed art lovers from around the world to view works from the permanent collection. With such a large collection of works, the database is updated routinely to include more and more works as records are updated. Today, the database includes more than 12,000 works. Check out what’s in the database collection at: https://emuseum.georgiamuseum.org/collections
New Community Programming
The end of the 2010s also saw the addition of new museum programming, including Morning Mindfulness and Toddler Tuesday. Morning Mindfulness, held every other Friday during the academic year, offers attendees a chance to take a deep breath with instructor-led meditation, movement and mindfulness techniques in the museum galleries. Toddler Tuesday, held once a month, includes storytime in the galleries, fun games and a student art activity as part of a 40-minute program for families and children ages 18 months to 3 years. Learn about all of the museum’s upcoming events and programs by viewing our calendar or subscribing to our weekly newsletter.
Museum Studies Certificate Program
In 2018, UGA announce a new Museum Studies Certificate program aimed at preparing students for careers in museums and museum-related fields. Aimed at providing a broad overview of the history of museums and museum theory, methodology and practice, the program was well received by students. Museum Studies “is a growing field and has incredible opportunities and applications for students in a variety of academic disciplines — history, art history, art education, biology, anthropology, just to name a few,” said Callan Steinmann, associate curator of education at the Georgia Museum of Art, in a Red and Black article from 2018.
2023 Brings Celebration and Changes
Since the beginning of the year, we have had the pleasure of looking back at the history of the museum, sifting through old museum records, archives of newspaper articles, newsletters and photographs. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary this month, it’s hard to deny just how far the museum has come since it’s humble beginnings, with 100 paintings from founder Alfred Heber Holbrook in the basement of the old library on North Campus. Today’s museum continues to strive toward Holbrook’s dream of making art accessible and available to the people. This year has been a celebration of his legacy and the museum’s dedication to that initial principle.
Following this year’s Elegant Salute Gala, which served as a sendoff for now retired museum director William U. Eiland after more than 30 years at the helm, the museum welcomed a new director. David Odo — previously the director of academic and public programs, division head and research curator at the Harvard Art Museums — is now settling into his new position as the director of the Georgia Museum of Art, and staff, regular patrons and the UGA community are all excited to see what the future holds for our beloved institution.
Want to learn more about our history? Check out our new timeline on the museum website.
Authored by:
Jessica Luton
