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The Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters will be closed from 10:00am–1:00pm on December 6th, 7th, 13th, and 14th for public school programming. The site will be open to the public with guided tours from 1:00pm–4:15pm. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Early drawing of the Jepson Center from the building's architect, Moshe Safdie
Early drawing of the Jepson Center from the building's architect, Moshe Safdie

Jepson Center: History and Harmony

 

After a century of collecting, exhibiting, and educating Savannah and its visitors about art, history, and architecture, Telfair Museums’ Director and Board of Trustees identified the need for a new, larger facility. Their primary objectives were to increase the capacity for traveling exhibitions, continue an emphasis on education and community involvement, and increase archival storage for a growing collection. The museums’ Board of Directors envisioned a building representative of its time but also open, welcoming, and inviting. They also understood that, in a National Historic Landmark District, it would be challenging to express these ideals in architecture.

Five internationally recognized architectural firms presented their ideas to the trustees in 1998. The trustees unanimously chose Moshe Safdie and Associates. Safdie offered an outstanding international track record of responsible, compelling designs in historic settings, and he excited them with his passion about the possibilities of the new project. Safdie also offered a clear and stimulating vision of a building that would harmonize with its surroundings and welcome the community.

What nobody envisioned was a two-year controversy surrounding the proposed project as the design team made its case before Savannah’s Historic Review Board. Only the passion and dedication of countless individuals enabled the grand vision for the Jepson Center to endure, providing Savannah with a truly iconic structure that, in the words of Safdie, is “vital, contemporary, appropriate to the expression of art to come … and a building you cannot conceive of anywhere else but Savannah.”

Exhibitions

Created Beasts: Sculpture by Ulysses Davis

Jepson Center
Telfair presents the first exhibition to focus on depictions of creatures, real and imagined, in the work of noted Savannah wood sculptor Ulysses Davis (1914–1990). Born in Fitzgerald, Georgia, Davis taught himself to carve wood as a child and relocated to Savannah to establish a barbershop where he created his art. This exhibition explores Davis’ sculptures of beasts inspired by biblical stories, as well as fantastic creatures that sprang entirely from his fertile imagination.

9 to 5

Jepson Center
What is your favorite work of art from Telfair Museums’ permanent collection? With a growing collection of over 8,000 objects, that can be a tough question to answer! Fortunately, Telfair's staff, docents, and member affinity groups took on the challenge and selected 60 works for display in our largest group-curated exhibition to date, 9 to 5.

Earth Angel

Jepson Center
It’s hard to miss the large, shiny sculpture soaring over your head when you enter the Jepson Center’s atrium. Titled Earth Angel, the reflective butterfly is a site-specific installation by the collaborative Los Angeles-based duo FriendsWithYou, aka artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III.

Retreating

Jepson Center
The eighth annual Boxed In/Break Out features a series of photo collages by Polish American artist, designer, and professor Wioleta Kaminska. Viewers encounter the work as six large-scale, digitally manipulated photographs of merged Icelandic landscapes.

Telfair Children’s Art Museum – Now Open

The Jepson Center is now home to an engaging and immersive children’s art museum. With museum admission, visitors can Explore Impressionism in this state-of-the-art, multi-level play space.

Learn More

#art912

#art912 is an initiative dedicated to raising the visibility and promoting the vitality of artists living and working in Savannah through exhibition opportunities, public programs, and outreach.

Exhibition Opportunities

Boxed In/Break Out Artists are invited to submit proposals for a public art installation in the windows of the Jepson Center that face Barnard Street.

#art912 on Social Media

Telfair Museums encourages anyone who is making art, looking at art, or talking about art in Savannah to use #art912 on any social media platform to talk about art or artists in Savannah.

Upcoming #art912 Events

There are no upcoming events at this time. Please check back soon!
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Telfair Museums
PO Box 10081
Savannah, GA 31412
Phone Number
912.790.8800
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