Morris Museum Showcases Southern Art
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Dedicated to the art of
the South, the Morris Museum of Art is a don't-miss stroll right off Augusta's
Riverwalk.
The Morris Museum is
housed in the Augusta Riverfront Center on the west end of the Riverwalk, across
from the Radisson Hotel. From the museum's main entrance, visitors enter an
elegant lobby of classic design and then proceed through a series of galleries
showcasing an extensive collection of Southern art.
A visit to the museum
begins with the Antebellum period in a stately empire setting and continues
through galleries devoted to such themes as Civil War art, the Black Presence in
Southern art, Southern Impressionism, early 20th century painting and
contemporary works. A long landscape corridor offers a warm and tranquil setting
for viewing Southern landscape painting.
The Morris Museum of Art
houses more than 2,400 works of art in its permanent collection, but it also
features changing exhibitions on a continuing basis.
The Morris Museum was
established by William S. Morris III, chairman and chief executive officer of
Morris Communications Corp., Augusta. Dedicated to the memory of his parents,
William Shivers Morris Jr. and Florence Alden Hill Morris Rickenbacker, the
museum opened to the public in September 1992.
As a home for a
broad-based survey collection of Southern art, the museum does more than house
exhibits. Its Center for the Study of Southern Painting is a reference and
research library that includes files on more than 1,000 artists who have worked
in the South.
The museum store,
meanwhile, offers exhibition catalogues, art books, handcrafted jewelry and
unique gift items. More than a dozen exhibition catalogues and books have been
published by the museum in the past five years.