museum NOTES
GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS
GALLERY MAINTENANCE
We’ll be taking a short break from exhibitions for some overdue gallery maintenance in half of the museum after “Kei Ito: Staring at the Face of the Sun” closes. The temporary exhibitions wing of the museum, consisting of eight galleries, will be closed from July 22 through the end of August so that workers can remove and replace all drywall, replace all track lighting, resurface the wooden floors and replace carpet in some of the galleries. Some of these tasks have not been done since the museum opened its East Campus building in 1996, and paint build-up on the existing drywall means that new paint does not adhere well. The track lighting uses cans that are no longer manufactured and will now be a uniform system with the lighting in the permanent collection wing. The elevator, restrooms and water fountain that are in that wing will remain accessible throughout the project, and although the construction will produce some noise, it’s a great opportu- nity to refamiliarize yourself with the permanent collection. MUSEUM AWARDED TERRA FOUNDATION GRANT The museum has received a grant for $75,000 from the Terra Foundation for American Art that will support the planning process for the exhibition “The Sculpture of Edmonia Lewis.” The exhibition, which will tour nationally, will focus on the pioneering works of 19th-century neoclassical sculptor Mary Edmonia Lewis. A talented young sculptor who traveled to Rome in 1866, Lewis broke international, racial and gender barriers. Her status as a successful woman artist, along with her African and Indigenous (Mississauga) identity, compli- cated the critical reception and promotion of her work during her life. Following her death, Lewis’ contribution to American sculpture was largely underrecognized. Organized by Shawnya L. Harris, the museum’s deputy director of curatorial and academic affairs and Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art, and Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, the museum’s former curator of American art and now George Putnam Curator of American Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, the exhibition will present 25 to 30 unique sculptures produced from the 1860s to 1890s that represent the vast majority of extant works by the artist. The grant will facilitate initial object research and collab- oration among advisors to the project and across collecting institutions that own works by Edmonia Lewis. The museum also plans to use the funds to organize a gathering of schol- ars in New York City to enhance research and programming initiatives and to create new opportunities for intellectual engagement with the university’s academic audiences.
The annual Georgia Association of Museums (GAM) conference was held Athens in January, with the theme “Finding the Right Frequency: Museums and Communities in Harmony.” Attendees experienced behind-the-scenes work at the museum, courtesy of a vaults tour with deputy director of collections and exhibitions and head registrar Tricia Miller and a workshop on multisensory inclusivity with associate curator of education Mallory Lind . The museum also hosted one of the conference’s evening receptions. Elizabeth Howe Marable , one of our preparators, led a work- shop on using SketchUp software for exhibition design. Michael Lachowski , our public relations coordinator, participated on a panel discussion on finding museum jobs and served on the host committee for the event, helping to ensure the success of the whole event and taking photos throughout the conference. Mill- er participated in a panel on collections continuity planning, and Callan Steinmann , our head of education and curator of academic and public programs, participated in the Georgia Museum Educa- tors Roundtable. On the last day of the conference, GAM presented its annual awards. Kathryn Hill , associate curator of modern and contem- porary art, received the award for emerging museum professional, and Steinmann accepted the award for best exhibition in its budget category for “Art is a form of freedom,” a collaborative project with University of Georgia students and incarcerated students at Whitworth Women’s Facility.
Kathryn Hill and Callan Steinmann with their Georgia Association of Museums awards.
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