ATLANTA, GA – April 30, 2019 – Clark Atlanta University (CAU) today announced that it has acquired six new works from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation (SGDF) for the University’s permanent collection. The Souls Grown Deep Foundation is the foremost collection of artworks by artists from the African American South. The newly acquired works for CAU contribute to and expand the collection by adding textiles and work by folk artists.
Clark Atlanta University Art Museum is the second historically black university (HBCU) to receive a gift of works from the foundation. The selected works for the Clark Atlanta Art Museum collection include four Gee’s Bend quilts, with an emphasis on Bricklayer and Medallion motifs, as well as sculptures by Thornton Dial Jr. and Dilmus Hall. These works will be shown in the exhibition “Crafting a Life” during the 2019–2020 academic year.
CAU joins three other institutions in expanding the collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and The Phillips Collection. SGDF’s collection transfer program is designed to strengthen the presentation of African American artists from the Southern United States in the permanent collections of leading museums across the world. With the addition of these four museums, the foundation has now placed more than 350 works by over 100 artists in 16 institutions, primarily through a combination of gift/purchase.
