Members of the Links, Inc., with Marie T. Cochran and David Odo (fifth and sixth from left)
SPONSORS
Anita Pratt Gloria Ricks Taylor Lauren Schlesinger Brionna Wilder
Deborah Gonzalez Bree Hayes Elizabeth Katz Courtney Khail Monica W. Parker
Shanell McGoy (chair) Ligia Alexander Sige Burden Jr. Lacy Middlebrooks Camp Cornelya Dorbin
$10,000 – Presenting Sponsor Anonymous United Bank of Switzerland
$5,000 Lacy Middlebrooks Camp & Thomas G. Camp The Todd Emily Community Foundation
Patterson thanked the Thompsons for “all of the tireless hours they’ve spent going around the country and finding [artists] we might not have known if not for their efforts” and said he wished he could “clone both of them” due to their commitment to collecting art by African American artists as a way “to preserve our culture.” While an undergraduate at Grambling, he helped a professor build a crate for a painting destined for Hale Woodruff’s Atlanta University Annual Exhibition. It was an indelible experience that shaped his desire to come to Atlanta after he graduated, he said. There, he saw a mural of Woodruff’s that included the figure of Shango, a Yoruba spirit associated with lighting, thunder and power. Patterson has incorporated Shango and related symbolism into his own work for years as a means to make people who see his art aware of the relationships between antiquity and modernity, especially when it comes to older African art and its influence on contemporary art. Brenda Thompson also spoke about the event as a whole and her and Larry’s relation- ship to Patterson. Tina Dunkley, the former curator and director of the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, was “relentless” in encouraging the Thompsons to buy Patter - son’s work, and Brenda remains thankful for that push, she said. She sees his work as not only beautiful but culturally rich, with Shango serving as a symbol of both ancestry and the beauty and elegance of African art. She encouraged attendees not to wait for a special event to visit the “jewel” that is the Georgia Museum of Art, but to visit regularly and find art that takes you to a special place.
$2,500 Shanell McGoy & Terry Powers Kathy B. Prescott & H. Grady Thrasher III
$1,000 Sige Burden Jr. Mae & Louis A. Castenell Jr. Bree & Richard Hayes Libby B. & C. Van Morris Monica & Sylvester Parker
Gloria Ricks Taylor UGA School of Law
UGA Office of the President UGA Office of the Provost UGA Willson Center for Humanities & Arts Mary M. Wood
$500 The Athens (GA) Chapter of the Links Incorporated Teresa & Charlie Friedlander Freda Scott Giles Lillian Kincey & Steve C. Jones Brenda & D. Hamilton Magill III Tatiana A. Mosbey Babe & Carl Mullis III Sylvia Hilliard Pannell & Clifton W. Pannell Jinx & Gordhan Patel Perryander Studio Sarah & Chris Peterson Deborah G. Gonzalez & Robert A. Scott Carla & Cleophus Thomas Marilyn A. Vickers Mary Lillie Watson & Ray Watson Brionna & Eric Wilder
We thank all who contributed to, sponsored or attended the event.
EVENT PARTNERS The Athens Printing Company Guide2Athens Perryander Studio
Attendees of the event
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