The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia received two awards from the SECAC (formerly Southeastern College Art Conference) Awards Committee for its exemplary work in 2019.
These honors included the Award for Outstanding Exhibition and Catalog of Historical Materials (awarded to “Clinton Hill”) and the Award for Excellence in Scholarly Research and Publication (given to “Crafting History: Textiles, Metals, and Ceramics at the University of Georgia”). The awards ceremony took place at SECAC’s annual conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Friday, October 18.
“Clinton Hill,” an exhibition organized by museum director William U. Eiland that was accompanied by a catalogue Eiland wrote that was published by the museum, surveyed the career of the multitalented 20th-century abstractionist who never stuck to one medium or style of art, instead experimenting with many. Eiland worked with museum preparators Todd Rivers and Elizabeth Howe to create an exhibition design that physically represented the abstraction of Hill’s work and made parallels to specific parts of the artist’s life. For example, as music was a common theme in Hill’s work, the team hung paintings at unusual heights to evoke musical notes on a staff. Hill also experimented with different methods of papermaking, so the preparators used glowing lightboxes and smooth wood tables to show the three-dimensionality of his work.
The accompanying catalogue, designed by Almanac in St. Louis, likewise played off of Hill’s abstract work with paper by incorporating cutouts on the cover, an unorthodox binding style, color, printing and font sizes. “Clinton Hill” was on view at the museum from January 6 to March 19, 2018, in the Virginia and Alfred Kennedy and Philip Henry Alston Jr. Galleries.
In light of this award and others the museum has received recently, Eiland said, “In what some Southerners might call ‘a gracious plenty,’ I was proud to learn simultaneously that our exhibitions of the art of Clinton Hill and the research of ‘Crafting History’ received awards from the Southeastern College Arts Conference at its annual meeting. SECAC recognizes outstanding scholarship and exhibitions in the region, and we are excited that our staff’s hard work and original research have been once again recognized by our peers.”
“Crafting History” was an impressive feat of research documenting the University of Georgia’s craft program, from its beginning in the late 1920s up to the present. Ashley Callahan (the former curator of decorative arts at the museum), deputy director of the museum Annelies Mondi and associate professor at the Lamar Dodd School of Art Mary Hallam Pearse compiled the first history of this influential program and analyzed the history of American studio craft through the lens of a public university.
The team packed a remarkable amount of research into two years, which they primarily obtained through archival collections at UGA and interviews. All of their work culminated in an exhibition including more than 220 works by 38 faculty members and a nearly 400-page exhibition catalogue published and distributed by the museum and designed by Grant Collaborative in Canton, Georgia. As a whole, the exhibition uncovered that UGA’s craft art program started earlier and had a wider impact on statewide craft than previously thought. It also identified that key women originally pushed it forward. “Crafting History” was on view at the museum from February 1 to April 29, 2018.
Mondi said, “My colleagues and I are honored to have received SECAC’s Award for Excellence in Scholarly Research and Publication. It is very gratifying to have received the Award for Excellence from such a respected and longstanding national organization in the field of education and research in the visual arts. This recognition from SECAC underscores the importance of primary research in the arts and is evidence of the Georgia Museum of Art’s and the University of Georgia’s commitment to scholarship.”
Since its founding in 1942, SECAC has dedicated itself to education and research in the visual arts. As a national non-profit and the second largest national organization of its kind, SECAC advocates for and supports scholarship and creative activities among arts professionals across the United States.
Andrea Giordano
Michael Lachowski
