Guy McRae, Ellenwood

Background: McRae, a retired public safety manager for Grady Hospital, has collected art his entire adult life, in part because many of the women in his family are artists. His largest and most significant collection consists of 26 pieces by his maternal grandmother, Vivian Schuyler Key, a Harlem Renaissance artist. Key was one of 49 artists included in a groundbreaking 1981 exhibit, "Forever Free: Art by African-American Women, 1862-1980." The exhibit opened in the gallery at Illinois State University and was the first historical survey of art by African-American women. McRae later commissioned art historian Crystal Britton to write a biography of his grandmother and catalog her works. He rescued some of Key's pieces from an aunt's basement, where they were deteriorating.

Hyosub Shin / AJC (ENLARGE)

Guy McRae collects works by his grandmother, Vivian Schuyler Key, one of the Harlem Renaissance artists. His favorite work of hers is 'I've known rivers.'

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Favorite piece: "I've Known Rivers," by Vivian Schuyler Key, dated 1976. The oil painting is based on a poem by Langston Hughes called "Negro Speaks of Rivers." McRae's grandmother knew Hughes, often read his poetry and made a bust of him, which McRae also has.

Why he likes it: "I grew up listening to Langston Hughes and this is one of my favorite poems," McRae said. Also, he appreciates the intricacy of the painting, which depicts three major rivers from which life flows. "Every time I look at it I see it in a different way, and I look at it often," he said. McRae was very close to his grandmother; he lived with her while attending both high school and college in Manhattan.

Where it's displayed: In his hallway. McRae's home is filled with art by Key, who died in 1994 at the age of 88. "I don't miss her. She's with me every day. I walk around my house and see her."