Jepson Center, Telfair Academy are free to local residents Saturday

Science-focused Free Family Day considers how museums curate art

 

SAVANNAH, GA (August 17, 2021) — The Jepson
Center and the Telfair Academy will be open
free to Savannah and Chatham County residents 
August 21.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, both of Telfair
Museums’ sites on Telfair Square will offer free
admission in partnership with the City of
Savannah. Face masks are required inside the
buildings, according to city policy. For more on
Telfair’s safety procedures, visit
telfair.org/hours-admission.

Visitors to the Free Family Day are invited to
tour current exhibitions, including the related presentations
Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections at
the Jepson Center and Progressive Regression: Examination of a 
19th Century Museum at the Telfair Academy. The exhibitions
consider how museums have put together their collections over
the past 300 years and present a variety of objects, including a
22-foot whale skeleton and artifacts from “The Ten
Commandments” (1923) movie set.

“We invite Savannah and Chatham County families to enjoy
free admission to the Jepson Center and Telfair Academy with a
focus on art and science connections,” said Harry DeLorme,
Telfair’s director of education. “For health and safety, the event
will take place over a full day and will be spread between two
museum buildings, and activities will be contact-free. Hands-on
activity kits for children will include an ‘archeology dig in a cup’
to try at home and mini-sketchbooks to use in the galleries. Family Day visitors should also check out a
great new exhibition of art by our dedicated Savannah-Chatham County art teachers at the Jepson
Center.”

Other exhibitions currently on view include Curators’ Choice, a selection of compelling works from
Telfair’s 7,000-piece permanent collection; Before Midnight: Bonaventure and the Bird Girl; works by
Savannah artists Kelly Boehmer and Sauda Mitchell; and more.

How sugar shaped our history

Also on view at the Jepson Center is Sugar, an exploration of
Savannahians’ sweet culinary habits since the city’s
founding, which opened July 30. Using furnishings and
portraits from Telfair’s permanent collection, Sugar gives
visitors a glimpse into humans’ connection to sugar and its
complicated history.

“Porcelain and silver were shipped from Europe and beyond
into the Port of Savannah during the 19th century, providing
the city’s elite with purchasing options far surpassing those
of inland towns,” explained Cyndi Sommers, the exhibition’s curator.

Featuring practical items such as tables, chairs, and tongs, and elaborate decorative pieces, the show
highlights everyday objects once used here in Savannah for the enjoyment of baked confectionaries,
syrupy fruit compotes, and sweetened drinks. Tables are set, complete with linen, and “populated” by
the people who inhabit the portraits hung within the gallery.

For more about all the exhibitions currently on view, visit telfair.org/exhibitions.