Telfair Museums announces its exhibition and event schedule for the remainder of 2016. Highlights include portraits from Telfair’s permanent collection, a mandala sand painting by Buddhist Monks from Tibet, and two hundred years of decorative arts under the Romanovs.
 
Telfair Museums’ exhibition schedule:  
 
Stick Men: Savannah Folk Art Canes and Wood Sculpture
June 11 – November 27 / Jepson Center
 
Since the early 20th century, woodcarvings and carved walking sticks were noted in writings and photographs about the Savannah area. Sometimes discussed in terms of a lingering African aesthetic in the traditional arts of the American South, these works were explored by scholars and later featured in exhibits in the 1960s through the early 1980s. Largely drawn from Telfair Museums’ permanent collection of folk art, Stick Men celebrates this rich artistic heritage in a focused exhibition.
 
Face to Face: American Portraits from the Permanent Collection
June 25 – May 2017 / Telfair Academy
 
Spanning the period from the American Revolution to World War II, the paintings in Face to Face: American Portraits from the Permanent Collection demonstrate the broad range of American portraiture found in Telfair’s permanent collection.
 
Face to Face also marks the debut of two new acquisitions. “James Wright” (1716-1785), the only known portrait of Georgia’s third and final royal governor, depicts the governor of Georgia from 1760 to 1782, whose tenure included the turbulent years of the American Revolution. His royal governor’s mansion was located on the spot where the Telfair Academy now stands, and nearby Wright Square is named in his honor. The portrait of George Johnson Baldwin by Gari Melchers, recently donated by the great-grandson of the sitter, is a striking testament to Melchers’s mastery of portraiture and coloration. George Johnson Baldwin was a member of Telfair’s board during the early decades of its existence.
 
Historic Cottons to Modern Polyesters: Quilts from Telfair’s Collection
July 30 – November 6 / Telfair Academy
 
Telfair Museums’ small but important collection of quilts are presented in Historic Cottons to Modern Polyesters. Ranging from 19th-century examples of pieced patchwork, to an appliqué story quilt made in the 1980s, the exhibition spans nearly two centuries of quiltmaking. This long, historical view allows the museum to highlight the larger story of artistic expression passed through generations of quiltmakers.
 
One Hundred Years of Harmony: Paintings by Gari Melchers
August 26 – December 11 / Jepson Center
 
Artist Gari Melchers played an invaluable role in shaping the collection of Telfair Museums. During his tenure as fine arts advisor from 1906 to 1916, Melchers facilitated the purchase of many of the best-known works in the permanent collection, including iconic canvases by artists such as George Bellows, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, and many others. Yet Telfair did not acquire a single work by Melchers himself until after he stepped down from his official role in 1916. To commemorate that occasion, Telfair’s board arranged for the purchase of Melchers’s The Unpretentious Garden, a painting that is now one of the most beloved works in the museum’s collection.
 
Telfair will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the acquisition of The Unpretentious Garden with a presentation of this treasured painting alongside seven additional canvases that demonstrate Melchers’s virtuosic ability to capture blissful, domestic scenes.
 
Mystical Arts of Tibet / Drepung Loseling Monastery
Sand Mandala Residency  
September 13 – 18 / Jepson Center
 
The Tibetan Buddhist monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery return to the Jepson Center to create an exquisite sand mandala painting as part of a weeklong residency. This Tibetan Buddhist tradition involves the creation and destruction of a mandala made from colored sand. The sand mandala is ritually destroyed once it has been completed, and its accompanying ceremonies and presentation symbolize the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.
 
The Tsars’ Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts under the Romanovs
September 30 – January 6, 2017 / Jepson Center
 
The Tsars’ Cabinet provides a rare, intimate glimpse into the lives of the tsars through two hundred years of decorative arts under the Romanovs, from the time of Peter the Great in the early eighteenth century to that of Nicholas II in the early twentieth century. The exhibition is drawn from one of the finest private collections of Imperial Russian porcelain and decorative arts in the United States.
 
Complex Uncertainties: Artists in Postwar America
September 30, 2016 – ongoing / Jepson Center
 
Complex Uncertainties: Artists in Postwar America, is an evolving exhibition grounded by works in Telfair’s modern and contemporary collection. This presentation brings forth undercurrents that permeate artmaking from the global eruption of World War II until today—events that challenge artists to explore unknowns, react to power, and construct narratives.
 
Watershed: Contemporary Landscape Photography

October 14 – January 29, 2017 / Jepson Center

Watershed examines landscape photographs produced after 1970, particularly works that evidence mankind’s undeniable and often negative impact on the land. Establishing a firm split from the pristine worldview of earlier landscape photographers such as Ansel Adams, the photographs in this show reveal landscapes as activated spaces imprinted by mankind and marked by social performance. The exhibition features works by artists such as Gregory Crewdson, Dan Graham, and Sally Mann.
 
Telfair Museums’ event schedule:
 
Masquerade in the Mansion
Friday, October 28, 9 pm / Telfair Academy
 
Guests don their masks for an unforgettable Masquerade in the Mansion, presented by Telfair’s William Jay Society. Intrigue and revelry await guests as they wander the historic Telfair Academy and enjoy unusual entertainment, music, dancing, libations, late night treats, and lots of surprises. This event is open to anyone 21 years or older. Attire is cocktail/black tie.
 
Telfair Art Fair
Saturday, November 12, 10 am – 5 pm / Telfair Square
Sunday, November 13, 12 – 4 pm / Telfair Square
 
Art Fair is an outdoor event in the heart of historic Savannah featuring 85 national and local artists set up around Telfair Square. The Fair showcases a wide variety of original art for sale in a broad range of prices and media, offering something to suit every taste and budget.
 
Arty Party
Friday, November 11, 6 pm / Telfair Square
 
Guests can kick off the Telfair Art Fair weekend with Arty Party, a preview bash in Telfair Square. This highly anticipated event gives guests an exclusive opportunity to preview and purchase the featured art and meet the artists at a chic cocktail reception.