Your Impact
Your generous support ensures the High Museum of Art remains a premier destination, presenting art and artists to inspire, enrich, and delight visitors of all backgrounds.
Community Engagement
During the 2021-2022 school year, after a two-season hiatus from in-person field trips, the High was thrilled to welcome back students and teachers from across the state of Georgia. More than 16,000 students participated in school tours with over 5,800 students attending for free through the Art Access program. Art Access removes the economic barriers that typically prevent Title I schools from attending museums. The program provides free admission for students and chaperones; payments for bus transportation; and free teacher resources, student study guides, and related materials for classroom learning before and after a museum visit. Each student also receives a “Welcome Back” card that allows them to return to the Museum with their family free of charge.
Among the many exceptional exhibitions presented in FY22 was The Obama Portraits Tour. The school programs team welcomed over 5,000 students and teachers into our galleries for tours highlighting this exhibition, and more than 200 teachers joined the team virtually for a teacher seminar series in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery.
Education by the Numbers
Public Programs
In 2021–2022, the High was excited to once again offer in-person opportunities for the public to return to the galleries and engage with art. After starting the year with virtual talks, we were able to safely deliver on-site talks in the latter half of the year. Highlights included three Conversations with Contemporary Artists programs that featured our new Picturing the South commissioned artists Jim Goldberg, Sheila Pree Bright, and An-My Lê.
Beyond talks, we welcomed guests of all ages to Friday night programming, UPS Second Sundays, and Summer Camp. It was wonderful to feel a sense of normalcy again as our audiences returned to learn, explore, and engage.
UPS Second Sundays
Average Monthly Attendance: 2,772
On the second Sunday of each month, the High offers free admission for all visitors from 12 noon to 5 p.m. and special programming from 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. Each month features new activities including art making, performances, and tours of the High’s collection and special exhibitions.
Art Access
Total Attendance: 5,800+
Art Access is designed to remove the economic barriers that typically prevent Title I school students from visiting the High Museum of Art. Art Access provides Georgia students a high-quality, dynamic learning experience that supports state standards.
smARTbox
Children who used smARTbox in FY22: 4,196
The smARTbox program was launched in July 2017 as a substantial new learning tool that combines the High’s robust art education and art-making materials in a handy kit that families with young children can enjoy while at the Museum and at home.
Creative Aging and Lifelong Learning
Our Education team continued to develop a multifaceted suite of innovative programs that enable older Atlantans to actively engage with art, explore their creativity, and connect with others. Programs such as our short course series and Inquiring Minds invite participants to dive deep into exhibitions and build their art historical knowledge in a supportive social environment; Studio Sessions prompt adults to tap into their creativity and explore different art-making materials and processes under the guidance of Atlanta-based artists.
Through Musing Together, we continue to serve older adults living with MCI, Alzheimer’s disease, and other forms of dementia and their care partners. These tours prompt open conversation about different artists, movements, and themes as well as meaningful exchange between loved ones.
We also expanded our reach through tours and workshops for local senior centers and other community-based organizations. In addition, our Lifelong Learning Celebration welcomed Atlantans ages fifty and up for a free day of tours, workshops, entertainment, and pop-up performances.
Public Programs by the Numbers
Digital Outreach by the Numbers
Conservation
Robert Henri
American, 1865–1929
Kevin (Joseph Gallagher), ca. 1928
Oil on canvas
Gift of Mrs. Marion Peel Calhoun in memory of Mr. and Mrs. William Lawson Peel and William Lawson Peel, Jr., 55.162
Through the generosity of a previous grant from The Sara Giles Moore Foundation, seventeen paintings from the American Art department underwent conservation treatment in FY22, including works by Robert Henri, Benjamin West, and Florine Stettheimer. We were able to conserve four other objects in our collection, including a quilt by Arlonzia Pettway and a sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein.
In FY22, art conservators performed detailed conservation assessment for more than six hundred works of art including textiles, works on paper, paintings, and objects. As a result of the survey, we treated forty-five works of art across our seven curatorial departments. These treatments ranged from readhering detached paper on an Ad Reinhardt collage to full-scale conservation treatment and varnish removal of several American paintings. Silver objects in the galleries were polished; a sketchbook from the African Art department received reinforcement of its perforated pages; and treatment began on three large-scale works by Thornton Dial.
Alongside these conservation efforts, we are updating storage and housing for each object using archival materials, ensuring that we preserve our collection for future generations.
Get Involved
To learn more about the various ways to support the High, visit Ways to give or call 404-733-4379.