This fall the UGA Special Collections Libraries will focus on the local music community through a free exhibition that adapts photographer Jason Thrasher’s 2017 art book “Athens Potluck,” capturing the behind-the-scenes lives of musical artists who call our town home.
The exhibition is more than photographs. It includes musical instruments, fashion, art pieces, and memorabilia from the Georgia Music Collections at UGA Libraries and on loan from an eclectic array of musicians that have rocked the stages in town and around the world over decades.
It also serves as a preview of the upcoming Special Collections Libraries display at the Classic Center Arena, which opens later this year. The exhibition also features images from Thrasher’s upcoming book “Murmur Trestle,” to be published by the University of Georgia Press in September. One room in the Special Collections gallery is dedicated to the new book with images of the trestle, an iconic landmark emblematic of the city’s musical history that was replaced in 2021 by a pedestrian bridge and bike path. The railroad trestle appeared on the back cover of R.E.M.’s debut LP “Murmur.”
“Athens Potluck” is open through December 20. A book launch September 21 at the 40 Watt in downtown Athens will feature performances from musicians featured in the exhibition. The Special Collections Libraries Building is located on the University of Georgia campus in Athens and is open to visitors for free daily. For more information or to schedule a tour, visit libs.UGA.EDU/SCL.