Augusta holds a special place in Jonathan Green’s heart.
“When you have a history with a place, it’s just like going home. I’ve been here so many times I feel like I’m coming home,” said the internationally known artist who was the featured artist at the March 8 Morris Museum of Art’s gala.
Green’s relationship with the museum has spanned more than two decades, beginning with Keith Claussen, the museum’s first director who died in December 2018. The museum acquired its first Green painting 25 years ago.
In the ensuing years, the museum has amassed the largest collection of Green’s works in any public institution, boasting 41 including three new silk-screened prints, according to Kevin Grogan, the museum’s director and curator. “The Jonathan Green: The Aesthetics of Heritage” exhibition highlights these works and runs through Aug. 31.
“It’s been a really nice ongoing mutually supportive and I think, mutually beneficial relationship,” Grogan said.
A concurrent exhibition highlighting portraits of Green is in the SRP Auditorium through June 29. Green is known for his depictions of the culture of the Gullah and Geechee communities.
Green has devoted his life to his art and estimates he spends 80 to 90% of his time locked away in his Charleston, South Carolina studio creating new works,
The artist turns 70 in August, but he said he feels and thinks much younger.
“To have a long-term career as an artist, you have to have unbelievable stamina,” he said. A healthy diet and exercise routine help him maintain his stamina.
Also tying into the celebration of Green and his works is the presentation of the South Carolina Ballet’s production of “Off the Wall and Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green” which will be presented Thursday at the Miller. Read more about that here.
The unique production will help raise funds for the museum.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s a Georgia Press Association award winner.Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
