The 2015 – 2016 academic year marks the 100th anniversary of Georgia O’Keeffe’s time as a professor of art at Columbia College, a period during which she began to develop her mature artistic style. There will be a variety of cultural programs celebrating this centennial, including a feature documentary film created by ETV as well as exhibits and programming at Columbia College. SC Humanities supported both ETV and Columbia College’s programs with Major Grants in February 2015.
The documentary Georgia O’Keeffe: A Woman on Paper will tell the story of Georgia O’Keeffe’s tenure at Columbia College in 1915-1916 and how it was an intense creative period that was a major turning point in the artist’s life. O’Keeffe sent some of her charcoal drawings completed at Columbia College to famous New York artist and gallery owner, Alfred Stieglitz, who responded with enthusiasm, “Finally, a woman on paper.” The documentary will premiere on ETV-HD on October 1, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. and will also be screened at a special event at Columbia College on October 11, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. A guest panel featuring art historians, scholars and documentary producers will immediately follow the documentary screening in Spears Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public.
Columbia College is also hosting a variety of other exhibits and activities during the 2015 – 2016 academic year. The exhibit Sanctuary and Spirit: Images of O’Keeffe by Todd Webb was supported with SC Humanities grant funds and will be on display in the Goodall Gallery from October 9 – January 10, 2016. The photography exhibit features iconic black and white portraits of Georgia O’Keeffe and is free and open to the public. Additional programs include a dedication of the Georgia O’Keeffe Tribute Garden, a screening of the 1977 documentary Georgia O’Keeffe, and an O’Keeffe birthday party and historical reenactment. Full details about all of the special events planned by Columbia College can be found on the website: http://www.ideasofmyown.com/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 23-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.
Image: a still from Georgia O’Keeffe: A Woman on Paper, courtesy of ETV
