Savannah: A City of Art

There are more art galleries per capita in Savannah [1] than in New York City—one gallery for every 2,191 residents, to be exact.

The no-brainer package experience for the visitor is the combo of the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (121 Barnard St., 912/790-8800, www.telfair.org [2]) and the Jepson Center (207 W. York St., 912/790-8800, www.telfair.org [2]). These two affiliated arms of the Telfair Museums [3] run the gamut, from the Academy’s impressive collection of Kahlil Gibran drawings to the 2008 installation by local favorite Marcus Kenney at the Jepson, comprising dozens of tiny heads arranged on the entrance stairs in the atrium.

Naturally, Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) galleries (912/525-5225, www.scad.edu [4]) are in abundance all over town, displaying the handiwork of students, faculty, and alumni.

The SCAD outposts with the most consistently impressive exhibits are the Pei Ling Chan Gallery (324 MLK Jr. Blvd.), Gutstein Gallery (201 E. Broughton St.) and Pinnacle Gallery (320 E. Liberty St.).

The college also runs its own museum, the SCAD Museum of Art (227 MLK Jr. Blvd., 912/525-7191, www.scad.edu [4]), home of the Newton Center for British American Studies as well as a massive new wing devoted to the huge and wonderful Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art.

While they don’t get as much press, Savannah also has plenty of non-Telfair, non-SCAD galleries as well, ranging from the cutting edge and avant-garde to pedestrian acrylics of seagulls.

The more adventurous indie galleries in town include: Chroma Gallery (31 Barnard St., 912/232-2787, www.chromaartgallery.com [5]); Desotorow Gallery (2427 DeSoto Ave., 912/335-8204, www.desotorow.org [6]); Gallery Espresso (234 Bull St., 912/233-5348, www.galleryespresso.com [7]), actually a coffeehouse; and Kim Iocovozzi Fine Art (1 W. Jones St., 912/234-9424), pronounced “ike-a-vozy” and hosting contemporary masters and a collection of daguerrotypes (Kim’s a guy, by the way).

An interesting, newish gallery on Broughton Street, Liquid Sands Glass Gallery (319 W. Broughton St., 912/232-3600), deals in intricate blown glass.

Possibly the most unique and avant-garde space in Savannah, the Co-Lab (631 E. Broad St., http://zecolab.tumblr.com [8]) was founded by a collective of SCAD alumni and hosts visual art, performance art, and multimedia exhibits. Check the website for what’s happening there when you’re in town—it’s guaranteed to be thought-provoking.