"When you educate a man, you educate an individual;  

When you educate a woman, you educate a generation.  

 —Old African Proverb 

Don Kole and The Savannah African Art Museum 

Art collectors are a fascinating category of human beings. For decades, a local Savannah businessman named Don Kole quietly collected an eclectic assortment of African artifacts. Art patrons now enjoy those years of his intensely careful effort at the Savannah African Art Museum. 

In the earlier days, Mr. Kole stored his expanding collection of African artwork in his business offices. Twenty years ago, W.W. Law, Savannah's treasured Civil Rights Era icon (see PFS-97), asked Mr. Kole to make his African art collection part of The Beach Institute (see PFS-98). 

But Don Kole had a particular vision of sharing this fabulous collection. Savannahians and visitors to our city alike can all witness the value the late Mr. Law saw in Don's collection. The Savannah African Art Museum opened its doors in 2017 in a beautiful rehabilitated house found at 201 East 37th Street, located only a few blocks south of downtown Savannah.  

Mr. Kole, currently age 91, remains a regular visitor to his museum. His bride of 67 years, the late Kaye Robinson Kole, importantly introduced her husband to his first African mask. In her own right, Kaye was an important figure in recording the history of Savannah, in particular by collecting the stories and thereby preserving the memories of the Jewish Community in Savannah. 

The valuable work in preserving the Savannah Jewish Archives that Kaye Kole accomplished through the Savannah Jewish Foundation can be retrieved in the Georgia Historical Society (see PFS-26) archives. 

The Georgia Historical Society honored Don and Kaye Kole in 2010 with the John MacPherson Berrien Award for outstanding service to the State of Georgia. 

I painted the museum from across the street en Plein air and then enjoyed crossing the street to review Mr. Kole's works displayed inside. The Savannah African Art Museum offers a collection of over 1000 pieces that originally hailed from the Western and Central parts of the African continent. 

Most of the artifacts displayed in the museum were not originally fashioned as decorative works of art but instead created for particular rationales; wrapping my mind around the unique purpose of various works made viewing the collection far more enjoyable and enlightening.  

You'll find objects designed to instill good health; others manifest increased fertility. A good deal of the artifacts was specific to the initiation of young males and females to accept specific roles within adult tribal society and to embody wisdom, self-control, beauty, grace, honor, or courage. 

Group smoking was a significant tribal event, so extravagant smoking pipes are found in the collection. 

Many of the African masks in Don's collection came from the 'Luba' people, indigenous to Central Africa in an area of what is now the Congo. How can a Russian girl named Luba not want to know more about the Kingdom of Luba, which was among the most successful societies in African history!  

It was a delight to discover that many among the Luba People were active artists, woodworkers, potters, and crafters. Several museum pieces included images of elephants, so crucial to Luba culture.  

Be sure to visit Don Kole's Savannah African Art Museum and enjoy a meaningful spiritual experience.