The Morris Museum of Art Highlights Works by Southern Photographers

Written by Daisy Coltrane Sunday, 01 January 2012 21:29

Augusta, Georgia.- Organized from the Morris Museum of Art’s renowned photography collection, "Local Color: Photography in the South" at the Morris. The exhibition containing more than thirty-five photographs dating from the mid-sixties to the present by some of the South’s most important photographers, including Dave Anderson, John Baeder, William Christenberry, William Eggleston, the late Janos Enyedi, William Greiner, Birney Imes, Greg Kinney, Jim McGuire, and Meryl Truett, remains on view through January 29, 2012.  “Local Color brings to public view some of the best photographs held by the Morris and underscores the rich range of aesthetic possibilities within a medium that is often thought to be the purview of amateur photographers. The work of these internationally known photographers has been little-seen here in the past, though their reputations are well established,” said Kevin Grogan, director of the Morris Museum of Art. “Their subjects range from the commonplace—rural landscapes and near-forgotten small towns—to the surreal. The work in this exhibition explores and celebrates the region and speaks to the significance of the visual artist—in fact, all expressive artists, no matter their medium—to Southern culture.”

The Morris Museum of Art, located on the Riverwalk in downtown Augusta, Georgia, is the first museum dedicated to the art and artists of the American South. The collection includes holdings of nearly 5,000 paintings, works on paper, photographs, and sculptures dating from the late-eighteenth century to the present. In addition to the permanent collection galleries, the museum hosts eight to ten temporary special exhibitions every year. The museum also houses the Center for the Study of Southern Art, a reference and research library that includes archives pertaining to artists working in the South. First incorporated as a nonprofit foundation in 1985, the Morris Museum of Art was established by William S. Morris III in memory of his parents William Shivers Morris, Jr,. and Florence Hill Morris. The purchase in 1989 of 230 paintings from the collection of Robert P. Coggins, a renowned collector of Southern art, established a focus and direction for the museum. Parts of Coggins's vast collection had been exhibited in museums around the country, and several other public institutions were vying for it when the purchase was made on behalf of the nascent Morris Museum. Another significant development of that year was the establishment of a reference library, which has evolved into the Center for the Study of Southern Art, an important reference resource. The Board of Trustees wrote and adopted the museum's mission statement in 1990, reflecting the museum's principal interest in the art and artists of the South. Also that year, Keith Claussen became the museum's acting director, and plans were first developed for adapting space in an office building, the Riverfront Center, to house the museum's growing collection. On September 26, 1992, the Morris Museum of Art opened its doors to the public and attracted more than ten thousand visitors in its first three months of operation. Since then, it has strived to fulfill its promise to make the language of artistic expression in the South accessible to a large and diverse audience through dozens of exhibitions and publications. The museum's education department has developed art education programs at many different grade levels in partnership with local school systems and has offered docent-led tours of the museum's holdings and exhibitions to thousands of visitors of all ages every year. The museum's public programs—whether storytelling sessions, readings, concerts, lectures, conversations with artists, or art-making workshops—have contributed to the renaissance of downtown Augusta. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.themorris.org

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