It focuses on public art in the Metro Atlanta area created by Steffen Thomas and includes the following events:
• An invitational plein air Paint-Out in Midtown Atlanta at the site of Trilon, a fountain sculpture by Steffen Thomas located on Peachtree Street at 15th Street will take place on May 20, 2017. Trilon, which won an Urban Design Award for Excellence in 1976, is owned by the City of Atlanta.
• A Steffen Thomas public art Scavenger Hunt in which participants compete to find the most public art works by Steffen Thomas in the Metro Atlanta area – dates TBA.
• An exhibition of the art created by the participants in the Paint-Out, to be displayed with a selection of Steffen Thomas art at Gallery 72, a City owned and managed gallery located at 72 Marietta Street opens on June 8, 2017. After the exhibit closes at Gallery 72, it will travel to the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art, located in Morgan County near Madison.
Steffen Thomas (1906 – 1990)
Steffen Thomas was born in Fürth, Germany in 1906 and had a dream from childhood of becoming an artist, specifically a sculptor. He was trained in classical sculpture at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich from 1924 – 1928, achieving Master status at the age of 21. Thomas immigrated to the US in 1928 and settled in Atlanta by 1930. Most of his professional career as an artist was centered in the Atlanta area, and he had a long career as a sculptor creating many public works of art that can be found in Atlanta and the Southeast. His last studio was in Midtown Atlanta, and after his widow Sara Douglass Thomas found it impossible to establish a studio museum on the site of the last studio, she decided to build on land owned by Steffen Thomas, Jr. in rural Morgan County, near Madison, Georgia.
Steffen Thomas Museum of Art
The Steffen Thomas Museum of Art is a single-artist museum dedicated to the life and art of Georgia Master artist Steffen Thomas. The Museum offers a multitude of arts outreach programs to the residents of Northeast and Middle Georgia. STMA displays a large collection of Steffen Thomas art, including sculpture, paintings, furniture and works on paper.
City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs
The Office of Cultural Affairs’ mission is to create and promote rich and diverse cultural experiences in the city of Atlanta that enhance quality of life and expand the city’s international reputation while preserving and protecting Atlanta’s cultural heritage.
