Google Readertag:google.com,2005:reader/user/11035256590072449650/label/MESDA PRMuseum of Early Southern Decorative Arts2009-11-13T14:27:18Ztag:google.com,2005:reader/item/47271a2d351b45102009-11-13T14:27:18Z2009-11-13T14:27:18Z<h2 style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:larger">New MESDA Exhibit Begins Oct. 1, Explores Georgia's Decorative Arts<br></span></h2><p>Winston-Salem, N.C. – The artistic legacy of Georgia, from the first settlement at Savannah to the eve of the Civil War, is showcased in a new exhibit beginning Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Old Salem.  The exhibit, titled “A Land of Liberty and Plenty”: Georgia Decorative Arts, 1733 to 1860,” will be on view in MESDA’s G. Wilson Douglas, Jr. Exhibition Gallery.  The exhibit will close March 31, 2010.<br><br>Admission to “A Land of Liberty and Plenty” is free.  An expanded version of the exhibit will be online at <a href="http://mesda.org/onlineExhibits_sprite/mesda_Georgia.html">www.MESDA.org</a>.<br><br>“MESDA has Georgia on its mind,” said Robert Leath, the Vice President and Chief Curator.  “In May, the museum more than doubled its collection of Georgia-made objects.  I can’t think of a better way to debut these objects to the public than in a special exhibition highlighting the importance of Georgia and its decorative arts to the American South, and to MESDA.”<br><br>The exhibit is drawn almost exclusively from MESDA’s newly expanded collection of Georgia-made objects, many from the pioneering collection of the late Florence and Bill Griffin.  Among the objects featured are a table made by Salzburger settlers in Ebeneezer circa 1740, which is the earliest surviving piece of Georgia furniture; a sampler worked by Mary Smallwood, circa 1778, which is the earliest known piece of Georgia needlework; and a ceramic jar made by Andrew Duché, Georgia’s earliest potter, circa 1740.<br><br>Other objects to debut at the exhibit are a grain-painted corner cupboard made in Oglethorpe County and part of the original furnishings of the Dozier family’s c. 1840 White Oak Plantation; a small inlaid table made in the 1830s by Thomas J. Maxwell, a farmer-cabinetmaker in Elbert County; and a stunning watercolor of a painted bunting by English-born naturalist John Abbot (1751-1840).<br><br>“Georgia has always been an important part of the MESDA South,” Leath said. “With these acquisitions, MESDA has achieved a long-term goal of enhancing its representation of Georgia’s craftsmen in its collection.”</p><h2><a href="http://mesda.org/aboutMesda/media_sprite/media_pressRelease/mesda_new-mesda-exhibit-begins-oct.-1-explores-georgias-decorative-arts.html">MORE</a></h2><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MESDAPR/~4/neYcnb-dKXo" height="1" width="1"/>(author unknown)tag:google.com,2005:reader/user/11035256590072449650/source/com.google/linkhttp://mesda.org/aboutMesda/mesda_media_sprite.html