ARLIS/SEArt Libraries Society of North America/Southeast Chapter
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ARLIS/SOUTHEAST 22nd CONFERENCEAugusta GA - October 17-19, 1996Yes, Virginia...there was a chapter meeting in 1996. It was in Augusta,
Georgia. You must have missed it. And if you did, you really missed having
a good time. LeAnne Brown hosted a very nice, intimate meeting on October
17-19. Members were treated to Southern charm and hospitality par excellance.
Those of us who attended stayed at the fabulous Partridge Inn,
a registered historical landmark hotel on Walton Way. The 22th annual
meeting opened with registration and hospitality on the 2nd floor porch
of the Partridge Inn. There members gathered for a social hour before
adjourning to dinner in "The Pear Tree at The Partridge." Friday, October 18, was a full and busy day beginning with a guided tour
of Historic Augusta. We weren't sure if it would happen for we awoke to
a very dense fog which took a very long time to burn off. Our local tour
guide was a delightful woman, who told us a lot of the social and political
history of Augusta along with pointing out the many architectural gems
which the city offered. Among the sites we saw were: the Sacred Heart
Cultural Center (formerly a Catholic church), the Old Medical College,
the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Springfield Baptist Church, the
Augusta Canal, the Ezekiel Harris House, the Old Confederate Powder Works,
and George Walton's Meadow Garden. The tour ended at the Morris Museum
of Art. Following the historical tour, the group had a docent tour of the Morris
Museum of Art. We were treated to a wonderful and diverse collection of
paintings and decorative arts items, and culminating with the Ida Kohlmeyer
exhibit. (Editor's note: the gift shop was great, too.) We reassembled
in one of the meeting rooms to retrieve our specially prepared box lunches
and wandered outside and ate overlooking the Savannah River. Our afternoon session featured a lecture by local author and editor,
Starkey Flythe Jr. This was definitely a real treat. According to various
reference sources, Flythe has published not only poetry, Paying the
Anesthesiologist, but also short stories, "Walking, Walking" (found
in Best American Short Stories 1985, Houghton Mifflin), and novels. He
served as editor of the Saturday Evening Post in the 1970s. He
is also past recipient of the Tryon Prize and a National Endowment of
the Arts fellowship. While this multi-talented writer was more of rambler,
his wanderings took us on a journey touching upon aesthetics, the arts,
history and literature, culminating in an informal slide presentation
featuring regional architectural sites. He was terrific...we laughed,
we cried and were thoroughly captivated by this fascinating personality.
LeAnne should be complemented on her choice of speakers. The lecture was followed by the annual business meeting. Marilyn Healey,
chair of the LoPresti Award Committee, announced the winners of the Southeast
Chapter's 1995 art book award. While there was a smaller number of entrants
the committee found several excellent recipients (see And the Winners
Are...). Chapter President, Debbie Barlow, accepted a position as Librarian
at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC and resigned, thus making
LeAnne Brown, Vice-President, the new President. Secretary- Treasurer,
Emma Zell, also had to resign before the meeting due to a change in her
job. Since there were so few members present, the President, LeAnne Brown,
asked that some of the business be postponed until a long-range committee
could be formed to study the drop in attendance and to plan future sites
for meetings. She will also appoint a replacement for Zell. In other matters,
there was no nominations nor volunteers for the position of Vice-President,
so Brown offered to search for a volunteer for the position who would
also be willing to serve as host to the 1997 chapter meeting next fall.
The meeting closed with the annual raffle of LoPresti Award non-winning
entries. Although various issues remaining unresolved the meeting was
adjourned. Friday evening we had dinner in one of the private dining
rooms at The Partridge Inn. We had a good time socializing and discussing
various chapter issues informally. On Saturday, October 19th, while many
of the members began their journey home, a few stayed and toured several
surrounding historic towns in Georgia. Once again the Southeast Chapter
had an enjoyable annual meeting and we look forward to seeing each other
at either the Society's annual conference in San Antonio or at wherever
the chapter meets next fall. |
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This page maintained by Sarah McCleskey. Last updated 7 August 2002. |