Don’t miss the great art and design in Savannah:
The Telfair Academy: The building began as a stylish home built in 1818; today, it is one of the major art museums in Savannah. You can view some of the rooms of the original home. The large rotunda gallery and the sculpture gallery below were added later and opened in 1886 as the Telfair Academy. The collection contains 19th and 20th century American and European art and is worth a visit. Highlights include American Impressionism and Ashcan School Realism with major paintings by Childe Hassam, Frederick Frieseke, Gari Melchers, Robert Henri, George Bellows and George Luks.
The famous 1935 sculpture by Sylvia Shaw Judson entitled the Bird Girl, which was made famous on the cover of the novel “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” by John Berendt, is located on the top floor. It was moved from the cemetery after some damage was done following the popularity of the book and movie.
Jepson Center: Across from the Telfair Academy is a contemporary art museum, also one of the Telfair Museums, that was designed by well-known architect Moshe Safdie and opened in 2006. It has exhibition space for temporary exhibitions and for their permanent collection. The building is really well designed and attractive. There is a café, Café Zeum, on the first floor.
SCAD Museum of Art: This is a contemporary art and design museum that is well worth the visit. The original museum was expanded by the addition of 65,000 sq. ft. at the cost of $26 million. The highlight is the glass atrium with its 86-foot tall glass and steel lantern.
SCAD also has three other exhibition spaces which you may want to visit. The first is the Gutstein Gallery at 201 E. Boughton which often has student works. The second is the Mary Poetter Gallery at 342 Bull St. The third is the Ling Chan Gallery at 324 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Exhibitions can range from photography, art and furniture to textiles and jewelry. There is also Alexander Hall at 668 Indian St.
