Information
Landmark: Morris Museum of ArtCity: Augusta
Country: USA Georgia
Continent: North America
Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, USA Georgia, North America
Overview
In the heart of downtown Augusta, Georgia, the Morris Museum of Art stands out as a celebrated institution devoted entirely to the art and artists of the American South, from sunlit coastal scenes to bold portraits steeped in local history.Founded in 1992, it became the nation’s first museum devoted entirely to Southern art, dedicated to preserving, showcasing, and exploring the South’s rich visual traditions through its collections and hands-on educational programs.The museum sits along the scenic Augusta Riverwalk, right on the banks of the Savannah River, where the soft rush of water and wide southern skies create a backdrop that perfectly matches its celebration of Southern heritage.Because it sits inside the Riverfront Center, visitors can stroll out the door and be in the heart of downtown Augusta’s lively arts and cultural district, where music drifts from open gallery doors.The Morris Museum of Art houses more than 5,000 pieces, from delicate 18th-century portraits to bold contemporary canvases, showcasing a rich mix of styles and eras.This collection has been carefully put together to reveal how art in the South has shifted over time, capturing its tangled history, rich culture, rolling landscapes, and the faces of the people who live there.The collection highlights several themes, among them Antebellum Portraiture-meticulously painted likenesses from the early 1800s that depict the South’s social elites and cultural figures, from silk-clad planters to prominent writers, revealing the era’s tastes and values.Civil War Art: In this section, you’ll find paintings and artifacts that bring the war’s chaos to life-smoke curling over battlefields, portraits of pivotal figures, and glimpses of how the conflict reshaped Southern society.Genre painting captures everyday life in the South, showing the rhythms, customs, and social ties that shape its people-like a porch gathering at sunset or chores in a dusty farmhouse yard.Still Life and Landscape celebrates the South’s natural beauty and rich harvest, portraying rolling fields, wildflowers, and familiar household objects with fine detail and bursts of vivid color.Southern Impressionism takes a close look at how artists from the South made Impressionist techniques their own, capturing the region’s distinct light, warm hues, and the hazy air of a summer afternoon.Modernism and Contemporary Art: This collection traces the region’s creative journey across the 20th and 21st centuries, showcasing pieces from self-taught painters and formally trained artists-works alive with modern ideas and bold, experimental strokes.Self-Taught Artists: This category celebrates creators who learned outside formal schools, highlighting distinctive, often folk-flavored pieces-a carved wooden bird, a quilt bursting with color-that deepen the museum’s rich story.The museum often brings in temporary shows-like a vivid display of weathered Gulf Coast paintings-that invite visitors to see Southern art in new and richer ways.Recent and upcoming exhibitions have featured *Capturing the Immediate: Impressionism in the South*, showcasing luminous brushstrokes from celebrated names alongside long-forgotten painters who worked under the warm, hazy light of the Southern states."Jonathan Green: The Aesthetics of Heritage" – Celebrating the vibrant, culturally rich art of Jonathan Green, highlighting Gullah heritage from the South Carolina Lowcountry."Georgia Watercolor Society 2025 National Exhibition" – Presenting leading contemporary watercolor artists from across America."The Opry, Summer 1946: Photographs by Ed Clark" – A photographic exhibition capturing moments before, during, and after a historic Grand Ole Opry performance."Jonathan Green: The Aesthetics of Heritage" showcases the vivid, culturally rich paintings of Jonathan Green, bringing the Gullah traditions of South Carolina’s Lowcountry to life in bold strokes and sunlit hues.The Georgia Watercolor Society’s 2025 National Exhibition showcases top contemporary watercolor artists from across America, each brushstroke alive with color and light.“The Opry, Summer 1946: Photographs by Ed Clark” - a vivid exhibition that freezes the laughter backstage, the glow under the stage lights, and the quiet after a landmark Grand Ole Opry show.The Morris Museum of Art brings the community together through lively art programs and hands-on workshops that make learning feel alive.It offers programs for everyone-families, students, artists, scholars-ranging from lively workshops to quiet, in-depth talks.Artrageous Sundays invite families to dive into hands-on art projects, listen to lively stories, and enjoy performances that spark young imaginations and deepen their love for culture.Lectures and artist talks give you the chance to hear directly from artists, curators, and historians, opening the door to richer insights into the museum’s collections, its exhibitions, and the wider stories of Southern art-sometimes with a vivid detail like the scent of old paint lingering in an artist’s memory.Workshops and classes offer hands-on sessions for all ages, where you can try different artistic techniques, experiment with new mediums, and explore creative practices-sometimes with the smell of fresh paint still in the air-while building your skills along the way.The museum throws openings, screens films, stages lively cultural celebrations, and more-each one drawing people together and filling the air with the energy of a thriving arts scene.The museum doubles as a hub for scholars, fostering research and partnerships that explore Southern art history and today’s creative work-like examining the brushstrokes on a weathered canvas from 1890.At the Morris Museum of Art, every corner is designed to feel inviting and easy to navigate, from the bright lobby to the wide, open galleries.The museum offers bright, inviting galleries, cool and carefully climate‑controlled rooms, and clear, engaging signs that draw visitors deeper into each story.Among the extra perks is a Visitor Information Desk, where friendly staff help with questions, share details on guided tours, and point you toward the museum’s best resources-even the quiet reading nook by the window.Museum Shop: Browse art books with rich, glossy pages, colorful prints, unique gifts, and souvenirs celebrating Southern art and culture.The museum welcomes everyone, with ramps and wide doorways that make it easy for wheelchair users to move around and enjoy each exhibit in comfort.Visitors can park for free just steps away-there are marked visitor spots at the Augusta Riverfront Center and municipal lots within a short stroll of the museum.You’ll find the Morris Museum of Art at 1 10th Street in Augusta, Georgia, open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5; it’s closed on Mondays and major holidays.Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for youth ages 13–17, seniors 65+, and students, with free entry for children 12 and under, museum members, and everyone on Sundays.Inside, this vibrant space honors and preserves Southern identity through the arts, from bold oil paintings to delicate pencil sketches.
