Telfair Museums is pleased to announce Savannah-based artist

Kelly Boehmer (American, b. 1980) has been selected to create a site-specific installation in the Jepson

Center’s Barnard Street windows for the 2021 iteration of the museum’s Boxed In/Break Out series. 

The exhibition, Embedded, will pack a visual punch with Boehmer’s highly constructed, saturated, and expressive fabric sculptures. Dr. Kimberli Gant, McKinnon Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museums and guest judge, selected Boehmer’s “incredibly visually compelling and interesting” works because they are “not simply craft pieces, but two-and-three dimensional sculptures that seemed to defy what a fiber work can be.”

“The theme of tragedy with humor feels very much appropriate for the times we're in,” Grant added. “The absurdity of politics, economics, and society is both hilarious and incredibly tragic.”

Boehmer said she is “thrilled to be exhibiting at the Jepson Center," adding, “so much of my work is

inspired by art history – which I often use as my subject matter. So, I am especially excited about this

opportunity to show my pieces in the same space that houses that inspiration for Savannah.” Embedded

will be on view July 16 through April 17, 2022 in the Jepson Center’s Barnard Street windows, as seen

from the building’s eastern exterior.

Telfair Museums’ Boxed In/Break Out is an annual call to artists that began in the spring of 2016. The

project offers local artists the opportunity to create a museum-sponsored public art installation that

involves activating six windows facing onto Barnard Street at the Jepson Center. The artist is chosen by a

guest judge based on the criteria of creativity, originality, and visual appeal, as well as resourcefulness

and suitability in the space. Boxed In/Break Out is part of Telfair Museums’ #art912 initiative, which is

dedicated to raising the visibility and promoting the vitality of artists living and working in Savannah. The

Jepson Center’s Barnard Street windows are highly trafficked by tourist and locals alike, inviting them to

stop, look, and discover.

This exhibition is organized by Telfair Museums and curated by Erin Dunn, associate curator of modern

and contemporary art.

Related Program

Artist Talk

July 15, 6pm / via Zoom

Savannah-based artist Kelly Boehmer will discuss her expressive fabric sculptures, chosen for the Jepson’s Barnard Street windows.