SCAD Museum of Art

The SCAD Museum of Art is a premier teaching museum located in Savannah, Georgia, established in 2002 as part of the Savannah College of Art and Design. It serves both the university's students and the broader public, enriching education beyond the classroom. The museum introduces new exhibitions every academic quarter, mounting more than twenty shows annually by acclaimed international artists. Its permanent collection encompasses more than 4,500 works spanning multiple centuries and mediums, from haute couture and photography to painting and sculpture, with particular strengths in African American art, British and American art, and modern and contemporary holdings.

The institution was founded in 2002 as the Earle W. Newton Center for British American Studies, named after Earle W. Newton, who gifted a major collection of British and American art to the college in 2001. As the museum's holdings expanded beyond its initial focus, it was renamed the SCAD Museum of Art in 2006. That same year, a significant portion of the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art was donated to the museum. Following a groundbreaking ceremony in January 2010, the museum underwent an extensive rehabilitation project, reopening on October 29, 2011, with inaugural exhibitions by artists including Alfredo Jaar, Stephen Antonakos, Liza Lou, Bill Viola, Kendall Buster and Kehinde Wiley. Prior exterior renovations in 2007 and 2008 addressed masonry, windows, drainage and the replacement of the original 150-year-old roof.

The permanent collection is organized into five primary areas. The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art spans visual art from the 18th century to the present. The Earle W. Newton Collection of British and American Art covers the interconnections between the two countries in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, featuring reference materials, rare books, antique maps and portrait paintings. The Modern and Contemporary Art Collection includes works by major 19th- and 20th-century figures as well as contemporary international artists. The 19th- and 20th-Century Photography Collection features significant photographic works, and the SCAD Costume Collection holds haute couture garments and fashion donations.

The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art is one of the largest and most important collections of its kind in the United States, comprising over 300 major paintings and sculptures alongside thousands of other works. It includes prized pieces by Edward Mitchell Bannister, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Robert S. Duncanson, Richard Hunt and Jacob Lawrence. The Newton Center holds paintings by William Hogarth, Sir Anthony van Dyck and Thomas Gainsborough. The modern and contemporary holdings feature works by Salvador Dali, Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Nicholas Hlobo, Wangechi Mutu, Yinka Shonibare and Carrie Mae Weems. The photography collection includes works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Mapplethorpe and Annie Leibovitz, while the costume collection features haute couture from Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Oscar de la Renta and Givenchy, as well as garments donated by Cornelia Guest.

The museum is housed in an 1856 Greek Revival structure originally known as the Gray Building, which served as the headquarters of the Central of Georgia Railway. This National Historic Landmark is the only surviving antebellum railroad complex in the country. An adjoining 1853 depot is also part of the ongoing restoration efforts. During the 2010 to 2011 rehabilitation, SCAD architects integrated the building's history with modern functionality, analyzing and reproducing original components down to the chemical compounds of the 19th-century mortar. Salvaged bricks and original heart pine timbers appear throughout the museum, and original high ceilings were retained for temperature regulation and dramatic display spaces. The revitalized structure features an 86-foot-tall steel and glass lantern that redefines the Savannah skyline. Sustainable elements include low-energy light fixtures, zoned climate control, exterior cooling towers, low-flow plumbing, low-emissivity glass on the south elevation, and xeriscape courtyard planning with porous paving.

Located in Savannah, Georgia, the SCAD Museum of Art operates as a teaching museum dedicated to enriching the education of SCAD students and expanding learning opportunities for the community. The facility includes new galleries, classrooms, a 250-seat theater, a terrace with an outdoor projection screen, a conservation studio, a museum cafe, and a 12-foot-long orientation touch table. The Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies serves as a multidisciplinary focal point, offering experimental public programs, immersive workshops, lectures and symposia. It is complemented by the Andre Leon Talley Gallery, named for the late Vogue contributing editor and SCAD Board of Trustees member. The museum also provides immersive activity packs with sensory boards and scavenger hunts to engage young visitors.