The Georgia Museum of Art recently received three regional and state awards, two from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries and one from the Southeast chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America.
The museum’s exhibition catalog for Art Interrupted: Advancing American Art and the Politics of Cultural Diplomacy earned a Mary Ellen LoPresti Publication Award. Established in 1985 to honor the former design librarian at North Carolina State University, the award recognizes and encourages excellence in art publications issued in the Southeastern U.S.
The Art Interrupted exhibition catalog, published in 2012, discusses the role of American modern art in the fight against communism.
The Kress Project, created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the museum’s Kress Study Collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, won the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries Award for special projects. Also honored was Bill Prokasy, a longtime supporter of the museum, who won the association’s award for advocacy.
The Kress Project focused on engaging new audiences through an array of multidisciplinary events related to the Kress Study Collection, including a print family guide, Family Day, outreach to senior citizens, films and docent education during 2011. An international conference on early Italian art and a curriculum-structured K-12 teaching packet also are being planned for 2014.
The focal point of the Kress Project was the public call for entries in response to Kress Collection artworks and the subsequent publication of the winners in a book in 2013.
The book featured 55 of 403 international submissions in media including paintings, poems, films, dances and even recipes and podcasts.
Prokasy first advocated for the museum in his position as provost and vice president for academic affairs at UGA. Prokasy currently serves the museum as a member of the board of advisers, a donor and an advocate for the museum at the state and federal levels.
During Prokasy’s tenure at UGA, he helped the museum create several new curatorial and administrative positions, including those for the curators of decorative arts and education as well as the deputy director and the special events coordinator. He and his office oversaw the construction of the Performing and Visual Arts Complex, which included Phase I of the museum’s facility. He also helped with the complex’s grand opening in 1996.