Museum of Fine Art
The High Museum of Art has named Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., C'93, director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the 2013 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize. The Driskell Prize recognizes a scholar or artist in the beginning or middle of his or her career whose work makes an original and important contribution to the field of African American art or art history.
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The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is the only museum in the country dedicated to visual art made by and about women of the African Diaspora. Since it was established in 1996, the museum has consistently garnered recognition for its visionary leadership and for broadening the impact of visual art in Atlanta, the region and beyond.
The museum regularly organizes mission-focused exhibitions and programs, offering significant contributions to the campus community, and receiving local and national attention. The strength of the museum’s programming has resulted in accolades and grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Fulton County Arts Council, and others.
In addition to creating nationally acclaimed exhibitions, the museum has a rich permanent collection that includes more than 350 objects that date from the 1940s. The permanent holdings include three-dimensional African art objects as well as works by celebrated African-American artists, including Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Hale Woodruff and many others. The importance of the permanent collection has been acknowledged by institutions nationwide, including The Getty Foundation, which provided a grant to conserve works by Hale Woodruff.
Located in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D., Academic Center, the museum presents two exhibitions that coincide with the academic year. There are also scholarly lectures and other programming in support of each exhibition.