Dr. Walter and Linda Evans make groundbreaking gift of African American art to Telfair Museums
Editor's Note: Due to a technical glitch, the byline for this article was attributed to the wrong individual. Meagan Pusser is the writer of this article and the byline has been corrected to reflect her authorship.
Savannah’s arts and culture scene is constantly changing. Thanks to Dr. Walter O. and Linda Evans, it’s’ also becoming more inclusive.
Noting the lack of diversity in most museums in 1970, Savannah-born Walter Evans set out to give his twin daughters examples of Black creativity and achievement. This mission soon gave way to a wide-spanning collection of art and literature showcasing multiple facets of the Black experience. Now, the Evanses have expanded their collection’s reach through a historic gift to Telfair Museums’ permanent collection.
Spanning more than 150 years of art, this gift includes 30 historical and contemporary paintings, prints, drawings, photographs and sculptures created by leading figures in the field of African American art. This diverse range of media offers Telfair Museums a chance to display a wider breadth of artists and open discussions about the relationship between art and community.
“Art is a reflection of society and expresses the shared, lived experiences of all cultures and communities. It offers a point of connection, a meeting place, for people from all backgrounds and points of view,” Telfair Museums Director and CEO Ben Simons said. “Art is a means for communicating and for creating shared experiences, for building community. Our museums and cities are stronger when we embrace this potential through self-reflection, purposeful outreach and the celebration of a more complete and inclusive vision of artmaking and creative expression.”
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'A destination for scholars and artists around the world'
To distill this vision into an exhibition, curators and benefactors must understand the city’s cultural needs. As the oldest public art museum in the South, Telfair Museums has a deep understanding of Savannah’s culture. The Evanses are certainly no strangers to the Savannah community either.
Upon returning to Savannah after retiring, Walter Evans began sharing his knowledge and art collection with his hometown. In 2005, he donated a large portion of his personal collection to the SCAD Museum of Art. Following this donation, the Evanses helped SCAD’s Museum of Art establish the Walter and Linda Evans Center for African American Studies, which promotes the research and appreciation of Black creativity. But their involvement doesn’t stop at simply contributing works for public consideration.
Art shapes our perspectives even after we leave the museum, but that can’t happen without widespread education and interaction with these works. The Evanses have encouraged Savannahians to actively engage with art through programs such as Telfair’s Friends of African American Arts and the annual Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight Lecture Series.
“The Evanses have made Savannah a destination for scholars and artists from around the world, some visiting for lectures and exhibitions, and many others traveling here to privately study the artworks, books and letters that the Evanses have collected,” said Alex Mann, Telfair's chief curator and director of curatorial affairs. “Within the field of African American art, they have already made Savannah a major destination.”
The Evanses' latest contributions will further advance these conversations among scholars and visitors by allowing a broader view of African American art previously unavailable in Savannah.
“Each piece in the Evans gift is very special, but I’m particularly delighted for the Robert Duncanson painting ‘American Landscape.’ Duncanson was one of the earliest professional artists of color in the United States, achieving celebrity in the mid-nineteenth century,” Mann said. “Consequently, many of his finest works are already in museum collections, and examples of this size and quality are rare and expensive.”
The collection’s rarity is only one draw for visitors at Telfair Museums’ three sites. Many of the gifted works have elements of life in Savannah, even when they’re not set here.
One such work is Jacob Lawrence’s 1998 “New York in Transit,” a pair of vibrant screen prints that celebrate the city’s hustling heartbeat, full of life and diversity. While the Big Apple’s fast-paced lifestyle may not quite match the “Slowvannah” experience, the vibrant, complex culture reflected in Lawrence’s work is increasingly more familiar in Savannah.
Evans collection broadens representation in Savannah's museums
Whether it’s a pastoral landscape or a bustling city, each work looks into the lives of artists and many others whose stories aren’t always represented in art museums.
“An important lesson of the Evans collection and these gifts is that the skill and vision of America’s Black artists do not have a single look or voice. African Americans created commissioned portraits, idealized landscapes, museum-scale sculptures and small works with deeply personal and autobiographical stories,” Mann said.
These stories put the heart of humanity on display, and Savannahians won’t have to wait long to see them. Several of the gifts are already on display at the Jepson Center for the Arts and the Telfair Academy, while others will appear in the upcoming “9 to 5” (opening Nov. 3) and “Frank Stewart’s Nexus: An American Photographer’s Journey, 1960s to the Present” (opening Feb. 9, 2024).
Over time, these works may even find their way out of Savannah and into other communities.
“Telfair’s curators are researching each piece in this diverse ensemble, and we will ensure that these works are available not just to visitors but to scholars and other museums for publications and loans,” Simons said.
Close relationships between museums, collectors and their communities ensure that art continues to shape our world long after the artists' careers end. After all, art is meant to be shared, and the Evanses’ contributions prove art is also a gift that keeps giving.
“Telfair Museums is deeply grateful to Dr. and Mrs. Evans for their historic gift. We thank them for their visionary generosity and their passionate engagement with the museum for many decades,” Simons said. “The Evans Collection is truly a gift to all of Savannah and to the future.”
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah couple make groundbreaking gift of African American art to Telfair
