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Brenau University galleries celebrates 25 years of artwork
Jasper Johns exhibition marks anniversary of permanent collections at college in Gainesville
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Brenau University President Ed Schrader, left, speaks with Dr. Jermaine Whirl, dean of Business and Art & Design at Gwinnett Technical College, among the Prints of Jasper Johns show in the Sellars Gallery on Brenau’s campus in Gainesville.

Brenau University celebrates the 25th anniversary of its acclaimed art galleries programs and the beginning of one of the university-owned permanent art collections Jan. 21 through March 17 with a special recognition of where it all began: an exhibition of the work of Augusta-born artist Jasper Johns.

Johns, whose aunts Eunice and Gladys graduated from Brenau Women’s College, was the featured artist in the first exhibition in Sellars Gallery, one of three permanent art exhibition venues on the campus. The 85-year-old artist’s work once again will be featured during the Brenau Galleries anniversary celebration, along with those of some of his contemporaries in the modern and pop art world.

The new curated exhibition includes 29 prints Johns created between 1972 and 2014 from the collection of master printmaker and longtime Johns collaborator Bill Goldston, who assisted with the installation. Sellars Gallery is in the Simmons Visual Arts Center at 200 Boulevard SE in Gainesville.

The Prints of Jasper Johns exhibition runs concurrently with the university’s Postwar Modernists exhibit at the John S. Burd Center’s Leo Castelli Gallery, 429 Academy St. That show, which runs Jan. 14 through April 21, features work from the Brenau University Permanent Art Collection by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois and Helen Frankenthaler.

Brenau University President Ed Schrader said exhibitions like these demonstrate it is not necessary for people to trek to Atlanta to experience interesting, significant art.

“Brenau’s focus on fine art and what we do with it is part of our mission to provide opportunities to experience great art not only to our students, faculty and staff but to residents and visitors to Northeast Georgia,” he said. “We did not build a permanent collection of great art as an investment for the sake of collecting. We built it to share with the world as much as we can.”

Both free opening receptions are from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21. The Prints of Jasper Johns will be on display from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and 1:15-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Postwar Modernists can be viewed by appointment only.

To schedule a visit, call 770-534-6263.

Docent-led tours of The Prints of Jasper Johns are available for groups of five or more adults from Feb. 1 to March 17. Tours, which must be reserved two weeks in advance, can be scheduled by calling 770-534-6263 or emailing amurphy2@brenau.edu.

For more information on Brenau’s art collection, visit http://galleries.brenau.edu.