Athens, Ga. – The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia will present a lecture by Sally Main, senior curator of the Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane University, titled “Newcomb’s Designers: A Conscious Revolution” on Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Main received her master’s of fine arts in visual and performing arts from Tulane University and has spent more than 25 years studying Newcomb artifacts. Her talk, in conjunction with the exhibition “Women, Art and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise,” will detail how the Newcomb Pottery taught self reliance to the 95 women who worked as the operation’s designers. The exhibition contains 130 of their objects and is the largest presentation of Newcomb arts and crafts in more than 25 years.
The Newcomb Pottery was founded in 1895 by the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, Tulane University’s women’s coordinate college. Created as an educational endeavor to train New Orleans’ women in the arts, the Pottery also offered them an opportunity to better their lives by creating unique decorative objects and earning meaningful compensation. The Pottery thrived until 1940.
The flora- and fauna-inspired designs are notable for their beauty, but the artists who created these motifs helped defy the stereotypical image of antebellum women as Southern belles. Instead, they were strong, self-reliant and financially independent.
“Sally Main’s discussion of the history of Newcomb Pottery and evolution of its enterprise will offer additional context and insight into the works in this exhibition,” said Carissa DiCindio, curator of education at the museum. “We are very excited for her lecture.”
Organized by the Newcomb Art Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, “Women, Art and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise” is on display at the museum through Aug. 31. The exhibition is sponsored by the Henry Luce Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works.
Museum Information
Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art. Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional museum support through their gifts to 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 St., University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 30602-6719. For more information, including hours, see http://georgiamuseum.org or call 706-542-4662.