Sweet Tea II Opens

Last night we have yet another fantastic exhibition opening for our members. We held the opening reception for three exhibitions - Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line II, Hidden Heritage: Western Art from an Atlanta Collection, and Neo-abOriginal Art: The Sculptural Marvels of Ed Archie NoiseCat. All three exhibitions are great - each is unique in its own right, however Western American South of the Sweet Tea Line II (or "Sweet Tea II" as the museum staff calls it) absolutely stole the show. Our executive director Seth Hopkins co-curated the show with our curator Jeff Donaldson. "Sweet Tea II" features over 70 peices of art spanning about 150 years. All the artwork came from collectors within 6 southern states. Some of the lenders are private individuals and others are are museums. Many of these works have never been exhibited to the public before. When you first walk into the gallery, landscapes with almost take your breath away. Each peice in the exhibition has a unique and interesting story, but one of particular interest is a piece that was owned by Lyndon B. Johnson. Apparently he loved the scene in the painting because it reminded him of his ranch and gave it a place of honor above his bed in the White House. Johnson commissioned the artist the do a portrait but apparently it did not turn out well. Johnson thought it was the worst portrait of him he had seen and it led to an argument with the artist. Johnson then sold the painting of the ranch scene.