SCAD Museum of Art Celebrates 15 Years with a Spectacular Fall Season

In the heart of Savannah’s historic district, a luminous beacon of glass and steel rises from the weathered brick walls of a 19th-century former railway depot in an extraordinary marriage of past and present. The SCAD Museum of Art, which occupies the surviving ruins of the 1853 landmark, has become one of the city’s most compelling cultural destinations since opening in 2011. Over the past 15 years, its hallowed halls have welcomed some of today’s most influential artists, introducing their creations to international audiences and generations of aspiring creatives. This fall, the museum is celebrating its milestone anniversary with an ambitious exhibition program that solidifies its expanding influence on the contemporary art landscape. 

The museum’s origins stretch back to 1991, when Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) founder and president Paula Wallace learned that the historic Central of Georgia Railway depot, part of the nation’s oldest surviving antebellum railroad complex, was facing demolition to accommodate a parking garage. Recognizing the architectural and cultural significance of the site, which figured in the remarkable escape from slavery of freedom seekers William and Ellen Craft, Wallace spearheaded efforts to preserve its surviving structures. SCAD ultimately salvaged 70,000 historic bricks, laying the groundwork for a remarkable transformation.

“The birth of SCAD MOA begins with a rescue,” Wallace recalls. “The threat of a parking garage risked losing that story and so much indelible history.” So she enlisted SCAD alumnus and architect Christian Sottile, whose Savannah-based firm Sottile & Sottile envisioned an 82,000-square-foot museum that incorporates the depot’s historic masonry into contemporary galleries and educational facilities. The architects even analyzed the original mortar to ensure the brickwork satisfied modern structural requirements. Above the entrance, a luminous 86-foot steel and glass lantern announces the building’s dramatic reinvention. The project earned prestigious honors from the American Institute of Architects and National Trust for Historic Preservation.

For Wallace, the museum offered an opportunity to transform the educational experience at SCAD. “I wanted to create the world’s finest teaching museum right here at SCAD, a work of art in itself,” she says. Its light-filled galleries and theater welcome students from all 11 of the university’s schools, who encounter world-class exhibitions spanning photography, fashion, and fine art. A dedicated alumni gallery also gives graduates invaluable opportunities to exhibit their work alongside internationally acclaimed artists such as Anish Kapoor and Carrie Mae Weems.

Over the past 15 years, the institution has assembled an impressive repertoire of exhibitions. Its inaugural shows included Kehinde Wiley, Xu Bing, and Liza Lou, whose intricate beadwork exemplified the museum’s embrace of unconventional artistic practices. Later exhibitions introduced Savannah audiences to Katharina Grosse’s monumental explorations of color and Nari Ward’s powerful and provocative installations fashioned from everyday materials.

Chief curator Daniel S. Palmer, who attended the museum’s inauguration, recalls his first encounter with its programming. “I was floored,” he says. “That was what first put SCAD MOA on my radar, and the program has remained consistently excellent over those intervening years.” Today, the museum presents nearly 20 exhibitions annually, frequently offering artists their first solo museum presentations or opportunities to debut entirely new bodies of work.

That adventurous spirit animates this fall’s anniversary program. Among the highlights is “Four, Once More,” which revisits Stephen Antonakos’s inaugural 2011 Jewel Box installation with four radiant neon works. Their electric hues evoke the dazzling lights of 1930s-era New York that captivated the Greek-born artist and the gilded Byzantine churches of his homeland. Installed within the museum’s historic brick archways, once entrances to the railway warehouses, the works also celebrate Antonakos’s centennial. “It was perfectly fitting for us to bring his work back and let its auratic glow shine to a new generation,” Palmer says. 

Elsewhere, Masako Miki has transformed a gallery into an enchanted garden populated by brilliantly colored felted-wool creatures inspired by Japanese folklore. Lap-See Lam conjures the vanishing interiors of historic Chinese restaurants in Sweden through virtual reality and 3D-printed furniture, exploring how these establishments reflect the complexities of cultural identity. Nigerian painter Nengi Omuku contributes dreamlike portraits rendered on Sanyan, a traditional Yoruba textile woven from blended cotton and silk often worn on special occasions. 

Another centerpiece is “Denim Tears from the Pool of Black Genius,” an expansive survey of fashion designer Tremaine Emory’s practice that places his creations in dialogue with works by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, and Alma Thomas from the museum’s permanent collection. Palmer considers the exhibition particularly emblematic of SCAD’s interdisciplinary philosophy. “It’s one of the most inclusive, wide-ranging shows I’ve ever had the pleasure of working on,” he says. “The students and community have really flocked to it, making an incredible impact on how they think about what art is and what it can be.”

Savannah itself plays a key role in the museum’s program. Palmer believes the opportunity to engage directly with aspiring creatives inspires visiting artists to approach their work with particular ambition. “The stakes are that much higher when you know that you can inspire a young artist at a pivotal moment as they are growing and developing their craft,” he explains.

For Wallace, those encounters represent the museum’s greatest achievement. Fifteen years after its opening, the institution continues to enrich Savannah’s cultural landscape and offer young artists star-making opportunities. “What a blessing and boon SCAD MOA provides for so many young careers,” Wallace says. “It’s the realization of a dream, and I’m overjoyed to be celebrating another milestone anniversary.” The historic depot has found a remarkable second life—and the generations of artists who pass through its doors will undoubtedly help write its next chapter. 

The SCAD Museum of Art is located at 601 W Turner Blvd, Savannah, GA 31401.