A campaign to save the Kiah Museum House building raised $3,600 last month during a Panhandle Slim art show on the campus of Savannah State University.
The Campaign to Save the Kiah Museum Building GoFundMe page was set up by the nonprofit African Diaspora Museology Institute (ADMI) in September after applying and being selected for the Georgia Trust “Places in Peril” list for 2021, according to ADMI founder Deborah Johnson-Simon.
The Kiah House Museum building, one of the oldest Black-owned museums in Savannah, is under threat of demolition, prompting a fundraising effort geared toward saving the institution, according to a Savannah Morning News article in February.
The campaign’s relationship with Scott Stanton a/k/a Panhandle Slim goes back to the month-long 108th birthday celebration for Virginia Kiah in 2019 where he honored the group with a small portrait of her, wrote Johnson-Simon in a statement. “However, after a visit to see the museum building, he indicated that he wanted to do more. He then created a large mural that would cover the signature window at the building.
“Within a few short months it was taken down and feared to be lost forever,” she said. “It was found about six months ago and it was in bits and pieces. Panhandle made sure he had recovered every piece and promised he would do something again to help the Kiah Museum.”
The mural was unveiled in the Asa Gordon Library at Savannah State University.
“Panhandle had created 83 amazing pieces and we silently prayed that the show would sell out” during the June art show," Johnson-Simon said. “With close to 200 in attendance, including Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, volunteers became busy putting stickers on paintings until time to close. True to his promise Scott Stanton, a/k/a Panhandle Slim became our biggest donor for the Campaign to Save the Kiah Museum building, raising enough with his art to donate $3,600.”
Other dignitaries in attendance included former Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson, archaeologist Laura Seifert, Rebecca Fenwick and Friends of the Kiah Museum President Tina Hicks.
At press time, the GoFundMe page had listed donations of $12,015 with a goal of $80,000. The Kiah House Museum building is at 505 W. 36th St. The GoFundMe page is online at tinyurl.com/c9wwf8pj.
Andria Segedy is the news submissions coordinator for Savannah Morning News. Contact her at asegedy@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @andria_segedy
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Campaign raises funds to save one of Savannah's oldest Black-founded museums