This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
The Souls Grown Deep Foundation & Community Partnership has launched a new custom print program, offering over 100 fine-art prints and archival reproductions by more than 30 Black artists from the American South, including Thornton Dial and Nellie Mae Rowe. The collection is being offered exclusively at prints.soulsgrowndeep.org and will benefit the artists directly via an equitable revenue-sharing model.
Souls Grown Deep has placed more than 500 works — including many featured in the print program — in 32 museum collections internationally. In 2017, the High Museum of Art acquired 54 works from the foundation; it was one of the most significant acquisitions by the High’s folk and self-taught art department since its establishment in 1994. Artists included in that acquisition who are also part of the custom print collection are Dial, Mary Lee Bendolph, Archie Byron, Joe Light, Ronald Lockett, Arcola Pettway and Lucy T. Pettway.
The goal is to ensure that artists or their heirs are fairly compensated for the sale or reproduction of their works. Souls Grown Deep Foundation & Community Partnership is based in Atlanta, with programs and initiatives supporting communities across the South.
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Atlanta Printmakers Studio has opened its new facility in Hapeville. The 3,000-square-foot studio, once a 1950s Amoco gas station, offers classes and workshops, a printmaking museum, gallery, store and outdoor gathering space. The new facility is more than double the studio’s original location in the Metropolitan Warehouse complex in downtown Atlanta.
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The documentary “Steffen Thomas: Rock & Chisel” will premiere on Georgia Public Broadcasting on Monday, Feb. 13, at 10 p.m. The one-hour film chronicles the life of Thomas, an artist best known in Atlanta for his sculpture “The Trilon,” located on the corner of Peachtree and 15th streets. The sculpture is owned by the city of Atlanta.
In the film, Kevin Sipp, curator, artist and project supervisor at the city of Atlanta’s Gallery 72, describes “The Trilon” as “a phenomenal piece. A gateway sculpture to the city of Atlanta that is recognized around the world.”
Thomas was born in Bavaria. In the 1930s, he settled in Atlanta, where he became in demand as a portrait and monument sculptor. His subjects included scientist George Washington Carver and professor and humanitarian Moina Michael.
The documentary was produced by Milk Crate Films. The Steffen Thomas Museum of Art, located near Madison, shared hundreds of archival images with the production company for the film. “Whether people recognize it or not, Steffen Thomas is foundational to the Atlanta art community that exists today,” states the film’s director, Jesse Freeman, in a press release. David Kirkland Garner wrote the original score.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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ArtsATL (www.artsatl.org), is a nonprofit organization that plays a critical role in educating and informing audiences about metro Atlanta’s arts and culture. Founded in 2009, ArtsATL’s goal is to help build a sustainable arts community contributing to the economic and cultural health of the city.
If you have any questions about this partnership or others, please contact Senior Manager of Partnerships Nicole Williams at nicole.williams@ajc.com.
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