#14: The Bee and the Acorn Discovered in an Armory
“in 1977, the world was ready for something new… All around us, dreamers were dreaming up new ideas…I was nearing thirty fast…but wondered if I could do more”
—Paula Susan Wallace
The Bee and the Acorn Discovered in an Armory
Paula Wallace is the President and co-founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). The quote above comes from her memoir The Bee and the Acorn: A Memoir by Paula Susan Wallace, published in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of SCAD’s founding.
I will always be grateful that it was a generous offer of a fashion scholarship from SCAD that initially brought me to Savannah — while it is the incredible beauty of the city that entices me to remain.
Since its founding in 1979, SCAD has played a central role in preserving many historic buildings in Savannah. Today, it is also the largest and most important employer located in the Historic District of downtown Savannah.
In March 1979, SCAD acquired the Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory building as its flagship location. Over the subsequent four decades, the college would move on to buy and rehabilitate several dozen historic buildings located throughout the city of Savannah.
In this en plein air painting, I am viewing the Armory from the southern end of Madison Square. The Armory is now known as SCAD’s Poetter Hall, named after May and Paul Poetter, co-founders of SCAD.
In its day, the Armory was lavishly decorated both inside and out. But when purchased by SCAD, the massive structure was long abandoned and had deteriorated nearly to the point that it could not be saved. A heroic restoration effort of the Armory preceded the opening of the college’s door in September 1979; an effort SCAD was recognized with an award from the Historic Savannah Foundation.
SCAD was also among the first colleges to offer a major in ‘Historic Preservation’ to its students.
The Armory building was originally built in 1892 and designed by Boston architect William Gibbons Preston, who also designed several other historic buildings located in Savannah; to include the Savannah Cotton Exchange (1886) and the Chatham County Courthouse (1889).
It seems like it was only yesterday when I made my initial college visit to SCAD in 2007 and first entered this magnificent building to explore my options. A couple of years later, happy in my college choice of SCAD, two very wise painting professors convinced me to switch my major from fashion to painting — and I’ve been caressing my canvases right here in this beautiful city of Savannah ever since.
The Volunteer Guards were organized in 1802 as an infantry and fought initially in the War of 1812, then took part in various battles against Native Americans, and later formed a battalion in 1861 where the Savannah Corp served with distinction in the defense of this city and of Charleston during the Civil War. The war-time services of the battalion continued in the Spanish American War and both World Wars.
Clearly, so many important episodes of American history were written right here in Savannah. And thank you, Paula Wallace, for inspiring us all to do even more to beautify this wonderful city!
Luba’s painting in progress.
