The largest US state east of the Mississippi River, Georgia is home to numerous museums and other cultural venues, many of which are hosting exciting exhibitions this winter.
(Photo: Georgia Museum of Art)
While Georgia tends to escape the bitter cold snap suffered by so many other American states during winter, it’s still a time of year when indoor attractions become that bit more attractive. If you’re planning to visit Georgia this winter, we’ve picked out 10 of the best museum exhibitions taking place across the state from December to February next year.
Wealth and Beauty: Pier Francesco Foschi and Painting in Renaissance Florence
Dedicated to Pier Francesco Foschi, a highly prolific and fashionable Florentine painter whose career spanned nearly five decades, this is the first full-scale exhibition of his work. Despite his success among the contemporary public, Foschi fell into nearly complete obscurity after his death, and the exhibition offers a timely and critical re-evaluation of the Renaissance master, his life and his talents. As well as paintings and drawings borrowed from several renowned European museums – many having never before been showcased in the United States – the exhibition also features decorative arts objects that serve to provide an insight into the world of wealthy 16th-century Florentines.
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens / 29 January – 24 April 2022
Disrupting Design: Modern Posters, 1900-1940
(Photo: High Museum of Art)
Though not precious or unique, the poster is considered by many to be the ultimate design object. As an object of design history, posters can comment on social and cultural shifts, but are perhaps best known for selling commercial products. This exhibition surveys the origins of modern poster design, featuring works from the collection of Merrill C. Berman, who focused on 20th-century radical art. Berman’s collection represents a complex history of modernism, as avant-garde artists actively produced fine and applied art for commercial and political aims. The works on view demonstrate the origins of modern graphic design, as practiced in Europe, and how the medium could be a catalyst for social change.
High Museum of Art, Atlanta / 10 December 2021 – 24 April 2022
Graham Hobart: Out of Africa and Into the West
(Photo: Booth Western Art Museum)
In 2014, upon seeing South Africa-born Graham Hobart’s extraordinary black and white photographs of African animals and landscapes, Booth Western Art Museum commissioned a picture from Hobart and dared him to “go out and capture the American West in his unique illustrative style as he had in Africa.” This exhibition is Hobart’s response to that call and features over a decade of his work in the American West and Africa.
Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville / Through 23 January 2022
Christmas Town
Named for the fictional town in the original 1964 stop-motion television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Christmas Town includes a special exhibition, live performance, and hands-on workshop. The exhibition offers visitors a glimpse into the history behind the creation of Rudolph and features two rare Santa and Rudolph puppets from the original production. Archival film footage, other items from Rudolph’s history, and festive vintage holiday décor are designed to transport visitors into the fictional setting.
Center For Puppetry Arts, Atlanta / Through December 2021
The Mission Experience
(Photo: National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force)
Providing a unique insight into what it was like to fly a bombing mission as a member of an air crew during World War II, The Mission Experience comprises three short films that take viewers through the briefing, ground crew preparation, and actual bombing operation itself. Afterwards, visitor enters into the Combat Gallery where they can view several original aircrafts, including a restored B-17 Flying Fortress, as well as engines, scale models, and a host of other authentic wartime items. Other highlights include an interactive Gunner Exhibit where visitors can practice shooting down enemy fighters with a .50 caliber machine gun.
National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Pooler / Through Spring 2022
Hidden Secrets Mysterious World of Caves
Within the earth lie otherworldly places, home to mineral formations in an almost limitless variety of shapes and forms and animals who thrive without light. As fragile as they are beautiful, caves provide a fascinating glimpse into a mysterious subterranean world. Within this absorbing exhibition, visitors can experience what it’s like to explore a cave as they walk through a full-scale cave reconstruction and search for cave critters during a specially curated scavenger hunt. There’ll also be the chance to spot some of the amazing and diverse specimens that together illustrate the secrets of caves.
Tellus Science Museum, Cartersville / 4 December 2021 – 30 October 2022
American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
(Photo: Atlanta History Center)
Featuring engaging multimedia experiences, immersive design, and artifacts, this exhibition explores America’s bold experiment in a government “of, by, and for the people.” Delving into the history of American government, and how the system has been tested, improved, damaged, and repaired over time, it presses home the argument that democracy relies on our active participation in order to endure over time. Among the themes it covers are the origins and machinery of US democracy, the changing identity of eligible voters, and the right to petition and protest beyond the ballet box.
Atlanta History Center, Atlanta / Through 23 March 2022
The Meaning of Home
Showcasing the selected works of local photographers from all backgrounds and communities, this exhibition features a diverse assortment of digital photos that address the subject of “home”. Specifically, it explores how our ideas and feelings about the home have changed since early 2020 in light of the restrictions placed on us in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced so many of us to retreat behind closed doors. The images featuring in the exhibition were chosen for inclusion by senior figures at The Columbus Museum.
The Columbus Museum, Columbus / Through 31 July 2022
The Murphys of Savannah
(Photo: Morris Museum of Art)
Over the years, Savannah, Georgia, has enjoyed a reputation as a vibrant centre for the visual arts, a reputation that has resulted from a large and active community of artists. This exhibition presents more than 175 works by one of the area’s most prominent artistic collectives: the Murphy family. Among them were Christopher P. H. Murphy, his wife Lucile Desbouillons Murphy, and two of their seven children, Christopher A. D. Murphy and his sister Margaret, all of whom were central figures in the cultural life of Savannah as artists, teachers, and leaders across the 19th- and 20th– centuries.
Morris Museum of Art, Augusta / Through 9 January 2022
Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites
This immersive, hands-on exhibition provides imaginative, book-based experiences for children aged from new born babies through to 8 years old. Birth. It does so by transforming seven beloved books – The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter; The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats; Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff; Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; Abuela by Arthur Dorros; and Tuesday by David Wiesner – into three-dimensional play and bi-lingual learning environments that encourage kids to build vocabulary and narrative skills, as well as print and sound awareness, and explore images through busy wall interactives.
Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Atlanta / 15 January – 30 May 2022