Our Three Museums
Art, History, and Architecture in Savannah
Telfair Museums offers a unique understanding of Savannah’s place in our collective American past through art, history, and architecture. Mary Telfair’s 19th-century vision has uplifted the people of this city and beyond for more than a century. Her legacy continues to inspire.
Located in Savannah’s Historic District, Telfair Museums is comprised of three unique sites. Tickets include a visit to all three sites and are valid for one week from time of purchase.
Jepson Center
- Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, winner of an AIA Gold Medal.
- Opened to the public in 2006.
- Consists of 7,500+ square feet of gallery space.
- Boasts 220-seat auditorium, community gallery, education studios, and sculpture terraces.
- Includes work of notable American artists.
- Houses the Kirk Varnedoe Collection, including works by Jasper Johns, Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, Cecily Brown, Frank Stella, Kiki Smith, and Richard Avedon.
Telfair Academy
- Designed by William Jay in neoclassical Regency style.
- Completed in 1819 as a residence for Alexander Telfair.
- Bequeathed to the Georgia Historical Society by Mary Telfair in 1875.
- Opened to the public in 1886 as the first public art museum in the South and the first museum in the United States founded by a woman.
- Houses 19th- and 20th-century American and European art.
- Includes major paintings by Childe Hassam, Frederick Frieseke, Gari Melchers, Robert Henri, George Bellows, and George Luks, and the original iconic Bird Girl statue.
- Contains three 19th-century period rooms.
Owens–Thomas House & Slave Quarters
- Designed by William Jay in the English Regency style.
- Housed 14 enslaved people on the property by 1840.
- Bequeathed to the Telfair Museum of Art in 1951.
- Boasts decorative arts collection including Owens family furnishings.
- Includes American and European objects dating from 1750-1830.
- Features one of the earliest intact urban slave quarters in the South.
