Sunday, June 15, 2014

Traveling Exhibits: Enjoy Art and History in your Neighborhood!

By: Nina Kendall

View of Inspired Georgia at ArtsClayton
Art is the visual medium that captures the human experience. It is the expression that helps us connect to each other. We see ourselves and others in art.  Happiness, pain, love, and regret are all captured by the works of artists. The timelessness of the human experience is there on the canvas for us to enjoy. Each work touches our humanity and connects us with history.

From the destruction of the statute of King George III on July 9, 1776 to Dolley Madison’s brave rescue of the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, Americans have connected to art. The Wadsworth Atheneum founded in 1842 in Hartford, Connecticut is the oldest public art museum in the United States. Many states have public art collections that preserve the work of the citizens of the individual states.  The Alice Art Collection of Utah was begun in 1899. Some collections are on exhibits in museums. Other public installations like the Empire State Plaza Art Collection have become landmarks. Not everyone is lucky enough to live near an art museum, or public art installation.
ArtsClayton Gallery

In Georgia, the state art collection has no public home. Begun in the 1970’s the collection was first shared across the state via bus.  The some 600 works of the collection were compiled from 1970’s to the 1990’s. This year part of the Georgia State Art Collection has been traveling around the state for the enjoyment of all citizens. 28 selected works from the state collection will continue to be on display until the end of 2014. It is currently at its sixth stop at Arts Clayton in Jonesboro.  The exhibit will make stops later this year in Dublin, Tifton, and Kingsland. The traveling exhibit, Inspired Georgia, is sponsored in part by the Georgia Humanities Council, Department of Economic Development/Tourism, and the Georgia Council for the Arts.

Inspired Georgia is a collection of 28 works by Georgians. This traveling collection features examples of folk art, abstract painting, realist painting, works on paper, landscape photography, and people and place in photography. In this exhibit you find the collective experience of the state, the traditions of rural Georgia and the modern, developing urban experience. In each work, you can find a little history of the state. This collection will evoke your memories and touch your heart. Take the time to connect with this collection. Look for what it represents from your past and shows of your present.

                                                                     Tour Schedule

Arts Clayton, Jonesboro                                                       
May 31 – July 24, 2014
 
The Carnegie Library, Dublin                                   
July 26 – September 11, 2014
 
Georgia Museum of Agriculture at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton
September 13 – October 27, 2014

Historic Train Depot, Kingsland
October 29 –December 11, 2014

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