GMOA in the News

UGA's News Service just publicized the following two important stories about GMOA, so expect to start seeing them showing up in the media. The first is the museum's receipt, alongside two other institutions, of a Luce Grant for a collaborative traveling exhibition.

UGA's Georgia Museum of Art awarded grant for collaborative exhibition and catalogue
Jan 26, 2010, 09:36

Athens, Ga. – The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia in partnership with the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma was recently awarded a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation for the exhibition and catalogue of Art Interrupted: Advancing American Art and the Politics of Cultural Diplomacy.

The Georgia Museum of Art will publish a catalogue of the exhibition featuring essays by curators from the organizing museums and an entry on each work. The staff of the three museums will collaborate on educational programs and on publicity and marketing including national promotions in several leading American art periodicals. The exhibition will tour in 2012-2013, opening in Auburn, Ala., and closing in Athens with a possible fourth venue to be determined.

Art Interrupted will reassemble, to the extent possible, a group of contemporary, modernist paintings purchased by the U.S. State Department in1946 for a goodwill tour of Latin America and Europe. The original exhibition of 119 paintings, Advancing American Art, was part of a new direction in international diplomacy, and, though it was met with praise from art critics here and abroad, it was directly assailed by American conservative groups who used the national media and members of Congress to vilify its modernist slant. As a result, the exhibition tour was cancelled and the works auctioned as government surplus; the three project partners acquired at a huge discount a combined total of 82 works originally included in Advancing American Art.

Art Interrupted: Advancing American Art and the Politics of Cultural Diplomacy will feature approximately 100 works, primarily oil paintings and watercolors, representing artists from various backgrounds and at different stages in their careers. In 1946, these artists were considered among the most talented modernists of the time. Some were well known or gained a solid reputation later in the century, as in the case of Georgia O’Keeffe, John Marin, Arthur Dove, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Ben Shahn, Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. Others, such as Nahum Tschabachov, Mitchell Siporin, Karl Zerbe and David Burliuk are little known today in spite of large bodies of existing work.

The goal of Art Interrupted is to assess these works of art as key examples of modern American art, reflective and expressive of all the diverse styles and influences that defined that movement in the mid-20th century.The exhibition also will examine government sponsorship of the arts, cultural propaganda and the culture wars, issues that pertain to present-day as well as historical circumstances.

The Henry Luce Foundation was established in 1936 by the late Henry R. Luce, cofounder and editor in chief of Time, Inc. The Luce Foundation supports projects in American art, higher education, Asian affairs, theology, women in science and engineering and public policy and the environment.

Through the Program in American Art, begun in 1982, the foundation has distributed more than $130 million to some 250 museums, universities and service organizations in 47 states, the District of Columbia and internationally.

The second big story is that Buddy and Lucy Allen, two of our most devoted patrons, were named "Patrons of the Year" by the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries (GAMG).

"Buddy" and Lucy Allen win GMOA "Patrons of the Year" Award
Jan 25, 2010, 14:29

Athens, Ga. – The Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries recently recognized Mr. and Mrs. B. Heyward Allen Jr. of Athens as “Patrons of the Year” for their service to the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia.

“Buddy” Allen and his wife, Lucy, have worked to advance the missions of both GMOA and the University of Georgia through their many civic endeavors.

The Allens are past co-presidents of the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art, GMOA’s membership organization. Buddy is currently the vice-chairman of the museum’s Board of Advisors and is the longest serving member of the board. Lucy is a member of the Decorative Arts Advisory Committee, which supports the museum’s Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts. In 2002, she chaired “Bella Sera: An Elegant Salute,” one of GMOA’s most successful events ever, with more than 300 in attendance. Buddy chaired the fundraising committee for the event, which raised more than $100,000 for the museum.

The Allens have a collection of works by Georgia artists, which they have lent to the museum for exhibitions. In addition, they have inspired members of their family to join them in service to GMOA. Members of the Allen family have served on the Friends’ Board of Directors as well as GMOA committees. Allen family members also have hosted various events and dinners benefiting the museum.

The Allens are members of the museum’s Director’s Circle, providing unrestricted funds to the museum, and are major supporters of both of GMOA’s current capital campaigns.

Recognizing the need for visual arts education, the Allens have funded bus transportation each year so that every fifth-grade class in Athens-Clarke County has the opportunity to visit the museum. Since 1985, Heyward Allen Toyota and Heyward Allen Motor Company, have sponsored Family Days at the museum, which have introduced thousands of children and their parents to art. GAMG honored Heyward Allen Motor Company with its Corporate Sponsor of the Year award in 1992.

For their dedication to the museum, the Allens were honored at an awards luncheon on Friday,Jan. 22, during the association’s annual meeting, held this year in Thomasville.

GAMG gives the “Patron of the Year” award annually to an individual or group who has worked closely with a museum demonstrating leadership and providing assistance; who is a major promoter of the museum in his or her local areas or statewide; and who in the past year has made a significant contribution and will continue to be a supporter in the future. Previous recipients of the award associated with GMOA include Shannon Candler, Jane Mullins, Louis T. Griffith and C.L. Morehead Jr.