Telfair Acadmey of Arts and Sciences in Savannah, Georgia. Photo © Doug Kerr, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
There are more art galleries per capita in Savannah than in New York City—one gallery for every 2,191 residents, to be exact. The no-brainer package experience for the visitor is the combo of the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (121 Barnard St., 912/790-8800) and the Jepson Center for the Arts (207 W. York St., 912/790-8800). These two affiliated arms of the Telfair Museums run the gamut, from the Academy’s impressive collection of Khalil Gibran drawings to the 2011 hanging installation of large, whimsical birds by local favorite Matt Hebermehl at the Jepson.Naturally, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) galleries (912/525-5225) are in abundance all over town, displaying the handiwork of students, faculty, alumni, and important national and regional artists. The SCAD outposts with the most consistently impressive exhibits of visiting artists—along with the occasional thesis show—are the Pei Ling Chan Gallery (324 MLK Jr. Blvd.), Gutstein Gallery (201 E. Broughton St.), and Pinnacle Gallery (320 E. Liberty St.). The college also runs its own museum, the SCAD Museum of Art (227 MLK Jr. Blvd., 912/525-7191), which recently doubled in size to accommodate a massive new wing devoted to the huge and wonderful Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art.
While they don’t get as much press, Savannah also has plenty of non-Telfair, non-SCAD galleries as well, ranging from the cutting edge to pedestrian acrylics of seagulls.While they don’t get as much press, Savannah also has plenty of non-Telfair, non-SCAD galleries as well, ranging from the cutting edge to pedestrian acrylics of seagulls. An adventurous indie cooperative in town that focuses on local artists is Kobo Gallery (33 Barnard St., 912/201-0304), on Ellis Square near City Market.Other neat locally focused spots include the fairly avant-garde Desotorow Gallery (2427 DeSoto Ave., 912/335-8204); Gallery Espresso (234 Bull St., 912/233-5348), actually a coffeehouse; and Daedalus Gallery (129 E. Liberty St., 912/233-2005), which is run by a married couple, native Georgian William Weyman and Frenchwoman Jacqueline Carcagno, and where you’ll find a nice selection of impressionist works in the French tradition, a rarity in Savannah. More serious collectors will appreciate Kim Iocovozzi Fine Art (539 Abercorn St., 912/234-9424), pronounced “IKE-a-vo-zee” and hosting contemporary masters and a neat collection of daguerreotypes (Kim’s a guy, by the way).
An interesting, newish gallery in town, Liquid Sands Glass Gallery (5 W. York St., 912/232-3600), deals in intricate blown studio glass from North American artists.
Excerpted from the Fifth Edition of Moon Charleston & Savannah.
