One of the other places in Athens to see art is The Athenaeum, a non-collecting contemporary art gallery that is part of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at UGA. Located in downtown Athens on Broad Street, the Athenaeum houses an art gallery that hosts rotating exhibitions, a space for workshops, lectures, and classes and a reading room. It describes itself as “a site for the exchange of ideas about art and the many issues on which it touches.”
This month, the Athenaeum hosts “re:(de)construction,” the exit show for the art school’s 2023 master of fine arts degree candidates. This exit show is a decades-long tradition, a chance for the graduate students to present the art they have been working on and refining for the three years of their program. Held at the Georgia Museum of Art in the past, it now takes place at the Athenaeum every spring.
“re:(de)construction” is on view through May 11 and features the work of 11 MFA students: AJ Aremu, Mickey Boyd, Zahria Cook, J Diamond, Shaunia Grant, Chad Hayward, Huey Lee, Jason Rafferty, Rachel Seburn, Ethan Snow, and Lee Villalobos. Through their various material experiments in video, painting, print, photography, metals, clay, and sound they share a commitment to reconfiguring and reinventing new ways of being in the world.
You can visit the Athenaeum Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. at 287 West Broad Street and park in lot W16, accessible through the driveway to the right of the building. Admission is free.
