Senior Outreach Program 2011

This year's Senior Outreach Program, organized by Diane Barret, focused on portraits. Seniors from Greene County, Athens-Clarke County and Winterville visited GMOA to look at the portraits in the galleries, then created their own collage self-portraits based on what they learned. Diane sent along these photos of some of the seniors with their work.

Happy birthday, Mary Brown!

Diane Barret, who works with GMOA's Senior Outreach Program and contributed an essay to our most recent Green Symposium publication of papers, "A Colorful Past" (available for purchase from the Museum Shop), on African American quilters, recently attended the 100th birthday celebration of Mary Brown, one of the quilters she profiled in her paper. Here's Diane's report on the party:

Well, I wish you could have been at Mary Brown's centennial birthday celebration last Sunday. It was an AMAZING experience for me! -- so interesting to see how a large African American family celebrates something like that! The mayor of Decatur read a long proclamation and declared Feb. 18th "Mary Brown Day" in Decatur. The mayor of Greensboro presented Mary with a key to the city. One of Jimmy Carter's grandsons read a congratulatory letter from his grandparents....then Mary's daughter Elizabeth Wilson (former mayor of Decatur) paid a very moving tribute to her mother. She talked about Mary chopping cotton, working in the households of people in Greensboro, raising 9 children, making innumerable quilts, being a mother of the church, etc. Then she said: "I want to praise my mother for her voting record. She voted at a time when voting wasn't easy, and she taught her children the importance of casting their vote. She just cast her most recent vote for the first Af-American president, Barack Obama." Well, I was very moved by all of this......

They had the quilt I had made of Mary on an easel at the entrance of the Solarium, and I presented Mary with the book "A Colorful Past" on behalf of the museum. She was pleased, but her children were absolutely THRILLED to have their mother's story in print. I'm sure you will sell a number of copies to her family. I certainly felt honored to be a part of it all....

I think just about every one of her 6 living children, 26 grandchildren, 70 great grandchildren, and 28 great great grandchildren were there and were in the line to speak to her. Her two "baby" sisters, age 88 and 90, were there. I've never seen so much longevity. There was some very tiny little woman in a wheel chair near Mary--I never did ascertain who she was, but I did find out that she was 99!! One room was filled with Mary's quilts and handwork plus a treadle Singer sewing machine. There was lots of food -- including tea cakes which Mary asked for...Anyway, I know you would have loved being there!

We certainly do admire Ms. Brown, and we thank Diane for sending along pictures and for passing along the book!

Greene County Senior Outreach

More great images from our Lord Love You: Works by R.A. Miller from the Mullis Collection Senior Outreach Series. This time the images are from the Greene County Senior Center.

Athens-Clarke County Senior Outreach

The Lord Love You-themed Senior Outreach Program continued yesterday, at the Athens Community Council on Aging, where public relations coordinator Jenny Williams assisted with the program and took these wonderful photos of R.A. Miller-inspired work created by seniors. Click above to check out the slideshow.

Highlights from the Education Department at GMOA

A recent press release featured GMOA’s education department for hosting 210 educational programs that attracted 9,272 visitors in the fiscal year 2008-2009. The programs served state residents of all ages through Art Adventures, Family Days, the Big Read and Senior Outreach, among others. Cecelia Hinton, curator of education, and Carissa DiCindio, associate curator of education, planned and managed every aspect of the programming.

Here are a few of the highlights to give you an idea:

Just My Imagination is a year-round outreach program that offers art workshops for all ages. Artists Jackie Slayton Methe and Toni Carlucci taught the workshops at various state libraries and community centers, including the Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Library, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, the Stone Mountain Library and the Jefferson Public Library. Funded by the Turner Family Foundation, Just My Imagination offered 10 workshops, such as “Ink Painting and Printmaking” and “Furry, Fluffy Felt Fun,” and had 196 attendees.

The museum’s department of education also offered a three-part Senior Outreach Program, prepared by Diane Barret, to involve older adults at local community centers and assisted-living homes. During nine events with 196 in total attendance, the seniors participated in tours, hands-on activities and lectures relating to the paintings of Everett Gee Jackson, one of San Diego’s most important modernist artists.

The department’s film series, sponsored by the UGA Parents and Families Association, offered 13 films that attracted 622 viewers. Hundreds of university students frequented the Latin American, Classic and Summer Film Series and benefited from the introductions given by Janice Simon, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor in Art at the Lamar Dodd School of Art.