Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection
Graduate student’s folk pottery exhibit on display through March 31
STATESBORO, Ga. — Graduate student Annamarie Kistler has worked meticulously to convey the stories of folk potters in the region through her historical exhibit “Common Clay.”
The dual exhibit, on display through March 31, 2017, at both the Southern Folk Art Gallery in the University’s Center for Art & Theatre as well as the Averitt Center for the Art’s Legends Gallery, serves as a tribute to the folk potters’ long, unbroken devotion to the craft. A closing reception will take place March 31 at the Center for Art & Theatre.
“Southern folk pottery owes its survival to the potters’ desire to preserve a traditional way of life in which pottery making was fully integrated,” Kistler said. “Its unique contribution to the economic and cultural history of the South makes folk pottery a story worth sharing.”
To tell the story, Kistler carefully selected pieces from the University’s Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection. Her exhibit will feature work from renowned folk potters from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to explore the historical importance and the changing role of folk pottery in the south.
“In 2006, Banks donated a large portion of his collection to the University. Today, the collection consists of 250 different folk pottery pieces and nearly 230 two-dimensional paintings and drawings,” she said. “When I was working as the collections manager at the Center for Art & Theatre, the folk pottery collection always stood out to me because the pieces are so different from any other art form that I have studied.”
Each of the featured pieces tell the stories of potter families who adapted to the economic and social developments of the 20th century, shaping their work from once-essential household items to highly valued and collected folk art.
Although she plans to graduate in May with a master’s in history, Kistler says that art history has always been her true passion.
“I was thrilled to have my graduate assistantship with the art department because I really wanted the opportunity to learn more about folk pottery and I wanted to help the art department learn more about the significance of this large collection of work they own,” she said.
Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving 20,673 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.
The Arts Have Arrived
In what could be compared to a Renaissance, or at the very least a Revival, the visual and theatre arts are soaring to new heights at Georgia Southern as they move their public programming into state-of-the-art facilities in the new Center for Art & Theatre.
1. Center for Art & Theatre Building:
In July 2006, construction began on the Center for Art & Theatre at Georgia Southern University. This 30,000 square feet public facility will house three exhibition galleries curated by the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art, and the Black Box Theatre managed by the Department of Communication Arts. The new Center for Art & Theatre opens its doors to the public in March 2008 and will be a beacon for the visual and performing arts at Georgia Southern University.
2.Visual Art Programming:
Exhibition Program Overview: Visual art galleries in the Center for Art & Theatre offer public exhibitions of visual art created by contemporary professional artists as well as space for display of student art. Galleries in the new Center for Art and Theatre located next to the Visual Arts Studio Building on Pittman Drive offer multiple venues to view contemporary and traditional art and design. A rotating exhibition season presents over twelve exhibitions annually of art and design created by contemporary professional artists and students in the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art.
Contemporary Galleries: The Contemporary Galleries present solo and group exhibitions in two distinct exhibition spaces of art and design by professionals and students working in a range of media, from traditional paintings to multi-media installations.
Annual Student Exhibitions: Exhibitions highlighting outstanding work created by Georgia Southern art and design students from the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art are presented throughout the year. These exhibitions are juried by an external professional and provide students with additional experiences in presenting their creative work publically. Form and Content highlights exemplary works created in foundation level drawing and design coursework; the Annual Juried Undergraduate Exhibition presents selected works completed under the tutelage of Georgia Southern faculty; the Graphic Design Portfolio Reveal presents the professional portfolios of senior graphic design students to the public and art directors in the region; the MFA Biennial presents a juror’s selection of art and design created by candidates in the Master of Fine Arts degree program.
The Betty Foy Sanders Georgia Artists Collection represents a diverse collection of artwork created by artists with a connection to the state of Georgia-whether the artist is native to the state, the artwork is created with materials indigenous to the state, or the imagery is about the state of Georgia. Curated by Betty Foy Sanders since 1967, the extensive permanent collection resides in its own gallery.
The Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection and Research Center located in the Visual Arts Studio Building, houses an extensive collection of folk art of varying genres and media from the southeastern United States.
Ascend, a public sculpture celebrating the Arts at Georgia Southern, greets visitors at the East Entrance. Created by artist and sculpture professor, Marc Moulton, with the assistance of graduate students, this monumental scale sculpture was commissioned by the Honorable Governor Carl Sanders in tribute to his wife Betty Foy Sanders for her life-long civic vision in support of the visual arts.
Sculpture Garden: The Center’s courtyard adjoins the existing Visual Arts Building with the Center for Art & Theatre and features a sculpture garden offering a fourth exhibition space for three-dimensional works of art.