HistoryofMorris

The Morris Museum of Art The Museum of Painting in the South

The Morris Museum of Art, located on the Riverwalk in downtown Augusta, is home to a broad-based survey collection of Southern art. As a museum dedicated to exhibiting and exploring the art and artists of the South, the Morris is preserving and enhancing a cultural legacy. The museum is housed in the Augusta Riverfront Center, a unique adaptation of office space to a museum setting. From the main entrance atop the Riverwalk, visitors enter an elegant lobby of classic design, and then proceed through a series of galleries showcasing an extensive collection of Southern art.

The exhibition 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 museum also features changing exhibitions.

The museum's Center for the Study of Southern Art, formerly the 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. It is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The museum store 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.

The museum was established by William S. Morris III, chairman and CEO of Morris Communications Corporation, headquartered in 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 of 1992.


 * Information Provided From http://www.themorris.org/