Atlanta: Where Every Opening Day Has A Closing Too
Did you know that the High closed a museum this year too? Yes, they opened their new facilities up by Art Center and used the contributions of thousands of Atlantans to do it, but no good deed goes unpunished.
The Folk Art and Photography galleries at the HMA @ Georgia Pacific are gone. That beautiful architecture by Scoggin Elam Bray? Gone. Now it’s day care center. (At least the space is doing something constructive)
What were they thinking? Thousands of people used those galleries every year. They provided an invaluable respite for folks downtown who wanted a little peaceful inspiration. They were free! And, perhaps therein lies the truth of the matter. As a noted producer in town is wont to say “Art Pays at the Door” and the Woodruff Arts Center folks want to make sure you keep paying.
Overall this is a bad decision. First, it isolates The High even more. Second, with no free access at all (they don’t even have free Tuesdays anymore) they condition people to think that art is not for everyone, just those who can afford it. Third they hurt students and teens. Yes. They have student programs, but tons of GSU students and High School students made their first visits to an Art museum without their parents at Georgia Pacific.
While the expanded High is a real asset to Atlanta, this is a very high price to pay, and they did not even ask the membership about it.