The Albany Museum of Art, located in Albany, in southwest Georgia, has one of the largest collections of African art in the Southeast, including more than 2,200 works. The diverse holdings of the museum also focus on American and European art in a variety of media. Nationally renowned artists whose work resides in the permanent collection include Edward Henry Potthast and Reginald Marsh.
Courtesy of Albany Museum of Art
Founded in 1964 as the outgrowth of the Southwest Georgia Art Association, the museum originally was housed in an empty hosiery mill; in 1969 a small facility was constructed in a local park. In 1983 the current museum opened with an exhibition of work by American impressionists on loan from the Phillips Collection, a renowned modern art museum in Washington, D.C.
The Albany Museum of Art includes six galleries and a children’s exhibition and learning area, AMAzing Space. Previous exhibitions at the museum include AMERICA SEEN: People and Place, a national touring exhibition of eighty works by nationally recognized artists, including Thomas Hart Benton, Edward Hopper, Dorothea Lange, Norman Rockwell, and Grant Wood; selected works from the extensive African art collection of Walter O. Evans; and exhibitions of works from the permanent collection. Its six galleries host an average of fifteen exhibitions a year, ranging from regionally to nationally known artists.
Courtesy of Albany Museum of Art
As a nonprofit organization, the museum is governed by a twenty-eight-member elected board of directors; volunteer opportunities and special programs are available through membership in the Albany Museum of Art.
