Seven of Athens’ established venues for visual art participate in Third Thursday, a local, art-centric event held in the evenings on the third Thursday of every month. It’s not an art walk because it does not occur in a single district of Athens; rather, it is an opportunity to get out and visit a handful of venues in one evening — because the art on view is always changing. The Georgia Museum of Art, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, Lyndon House Arts Center, Glass Cube & Gallery @Hotel Indigo-Athens, Ciné, the Classic Center and ATHICA will be open from 6 until 9 p.m. to showcase their visual-arts programming.
Documentaries, lectures, museum mixes, studio workshops and yoga in the galleries have all occurred on the same day as Third Thursdays, creating an amazing opportunity to attend multiple events throughout the day. This past October there was a featured lecture, “Cloudspotting for Beginners,” presented by Gavin Pretor-Pinney the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society; in November, a gallery tour of the “Before the War: Photographs of Syria by Peter Aaron” exhibition was held, accompanied by a viewing of the film “The Road to Palmyra.”
This month the museum will be holding “Yoga in the Galleries.” Led by instructors from Five Points Yoga, this program is free and open to both beginner and experienced yogis. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis; tickets are available at the front desk starting at 5:15. Yoga mats will be provided.
Stick around afterwards to explore other concurrent exhibitions including:
- “Mary Lee Bendolph: Quilted Memories” – This survey exhibition features three decades’ worth of quilts created by artist Mary Lee Bendolph.
- “Rachel Whiteread” – Five cast-stone sculptures by Rachel Whiteread reinterpret the artist’s earlier resin castings of the space beneath chairs.
- “Drama and Devotion in Baroque Rome” – Paintings on loan from the Museum and Gallery at Bob Jones University that show the influence of Caravaggio, including works by Rubens, Orazio Gentileschi and Simon Vouet.
- “Storytelling in Renaissance Maiolica” – Colorful tin-glazed earthenware from 16th-century Italy, including two new acquisitions by the museum.
- “Material Georgia 1733–1900: Two Decades of Scholarship” – This exhibition reviews 20 years of scholarly activity at the Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts.
Third Thursday was established in 2012 to encourage attendance at Athens’ established art venues through coordination and co-promotion by the organizing entities. Rack cards promoting Third Thursday and visual art in Athens are available upon request. Admission is free. Full schedules are posted at 3Thurs.org.
Authored by:
Giselle Brannam
