Athens, Ga. – As a part of the Airport Art Program, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is currently exhibiting All Creatures Great and Small from the Georgia Museum of Art’s permanent collection and the collection of Carl and Marian Mullis. The exhibition will remain on display in the Atlanta airport’s T gates until April.
All Creatures Great and Small features paintings, sculptures and mixed-media creations depicting animals and created by American self-taught artists. The exhibition includes works by such folk masters as Howard Finster and Mose Tolliver and by such outstanding but relatively unheralded contemporary artists as Jim Lewis and Ted Gordon. The majority of artists featured have spent their lives in the South, including the following artists from Georgia: Michael Crocker, Finster, Willie Jinks, R.A. Miller and O.L. Samuels.
Atlanta residents Carl and Marian Mullis are patrons of and generous donors to the Georgia Museum of Art, where Carl serves as the chair of the Board of Advisors. Their collection, which focuses on American Scene work from between World War I and II and works by American self-taught artists, has formed the basis of two previous exhibitions organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, Amazing Grace: Self-Taught Artists from the Mullis Collection and Lord Love You: Works by R.A. Miller from the Mullis Collection.
The exhibition was inspired by animals partly because of the Mullises’ strong affection for them, particularly their beloved dog Sheba, but primarily because the theme appeals to people of all ages.
“The staff of the Georgia Museum of Art was excited about this opportunity to work with both Carl Mullis and the Airport Art Program with the Department of Aviation at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport,” said Paul Manoguerra, organizer of the exhibition and chief curator at the Georgia Museum of Art. “We selected animals as the theme to help make the art as accessible as possible to the many potential viewers at the airport’s T gates.”
The exhibition is in the 120 feet of cases located along the north corridor of the T gates known as Gallery T North and located directly opposite Gates T12 – T14. The exhibition space is the second largest in the airport and allows the Art Program to present large-scale rotating shows.
To accompany the exhibition, the museum co-produced a documentary-style film in conjunction with filmmaker and director David McClister of Lampshade Films and narrated by Holly Hunter. The film loops on a screen alongside the display and can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/23265180.
This exhibition is sponsored by the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art.
Museum Information
Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The council is a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional museum support through their gifts to the Arch Foundation and the University of Georgia Foundation. The Georgia Museum of Art is located in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex on the East Campus of the University of Georgia. The address is 90 Carlton Street, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 30602-6719. For more information, including hours, see http://www.georgiamuseum.org or call 706/542-4662.
