Making Marks 2023

City of Savannah Therapeutics Program participants.

Telfair Museums’ Making Marks is a community-based art exhibition that celebrates the therapeutic and rehabilitative aspects of art. Reminding us that art making is for everyone, this exhibition features a wide range of participating artists representing local individuals of diverse ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

Many of the artworks in Making Marks were created throughout Savannah in collaboration with community partners during Telfair’s extensive 2023 Health and Social Services Outreach Programming. The project curriculum was inspired by the carved wooden sculptures featured in the exhibition Created Beasts: Sculptures by Ulysses Davis. During a series of art sessions, participants were challenged physically and mentally to think outside the box, push the limits of their imagination, and build three-dimensional creatures using newspaper, masking tape, cardboard, plaster gauze, acrylic paint, and faux gemstones. Other works in the exhibition were created in Telfair’s Veterans’ Guided Open Studio Program, with additional works submitted by Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools highlighting the work of students from grades K-12.

By bringing people together as a community with art making, Making Marks emphasizes the important transformative, healing, and empowering role of art in self-discovery, expression, and exploration.