CELEBRATING the MEMORY of JULIA EDWARDS SANKS
A wall dedicated to long-time museum docent and supporter Julia Sanks is now in place at the museum. The memorial wall is meant to help students and younger visitors feel included by seeing younger artists’ work on display.
The group decided that a student gallery wall, installed outside the Mary and Michael Erlanger Studio Classroom, would expand upon Julia’s passion for helping students explore their creativity in the classroom. While braving a pandemic, the docents were instrumental in raising funds for the wall. Sherrie Olejnik, then docent president, helped push the project forward through supply chain struggles. On March 20, we unveiled Julia’s Wall and it is a welcomed addition to our museum. The goal of this memorial is to help students and younger visitors feel included in the museum by seeing their work on display, expanding on the museum’s mission of sup- porting art education and students. “It is a flexible system with gallery lighting that will allow for student-made art, both 2D and 3D, to be displayed,” said associate curator of education Sage Kincaid. “All the 5th-grade students, as well as many from other grades, in the Clarke County School District visit the museum each year for a tour of the galleries and to make an art project related to something they have seen in the galleries. The classroom is where these art activities take place so it makes sense to have it close to the classroom.”
Julia Sanks loved helping students.
Known for her dedication and outreach to students in the community, she spent much of her time giving back and encouraging students through museum programs. She recruited many past and current docents and was an active advocate for the museum and its docent program. Her passion and investment in these endeavors at the mu- seum led her to becoming the president of the program in 2014. During this time, she also tutored at Sylvan Learning Center, which she and her husband owned for 10 years. Her longstanding service to the museum and passion for connecting with students will now be remembered with a special gallery wall that will feature student art and is meant as a dedication to Julia and her many years of dedication to facilitating fun and creativity while working with students. When she died, in February of 2020, community docents and Emily Hogrefe-Ribeiro (the previous assistant curator of education) sat down to brainstorm how they could hon- or Julia’s time at the museum.
Taylor Nettis, communications intern
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