CAU Art Museum Announces New Acquisitions

05/01/2019

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.

For more information, please contact Dr. Maurita Poole at mpoole@cau.edu or 404-880-8671.

About the Souls Grown Deep Foundation

The Souls Grown Deep Foundation is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting the artwork by artists from the African-American South. The Foundation was established with the largest and foremost collection of works by African-American artists from the Southern United States, which it is working to disburse into the collections of museums around the world to make the work accessible to the widest possible audience. The Foundation advances its mission by advocating the contributions of these artists in the canon of American art history, accomplished through collection transfers, scholarship, education, public programs, and publications. Through grants and other initiatives, the Foundation has also extended its mission to serve those communities that gave rise to the visual traditions of the artists represented in its collection. For more information, visit www.soulsgrowndeep.org .

About Clark Atlanta University

Established in 1988 by the consolidation of Atlanta University (1865) and Clark College (1869), Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is one of the Nation’s foremost research institutions, offering students from around the United States and several foreign countries the opportunity to engage in 38 exciting areas of study at bachelors, masters and doctoral levels. Located in the historic heart of Atlanta, one of the world's great international cities, CAU’s nearly 4,000 students enjoy access to academic and co-curricular experiences, from forensic debate, to on-air broadcasting, to cancer research with world-renowned investigators. From the arts to zoology, CAU combines nearly 300 years of tradition with a solid focus on academic excellence to produce leaders who will shape the future of the global community. To learn more about Clark Atlanta University, visit www.cau.edu .