Guide my feet while I run this race,

for I don't want to run this race in vain."

—Guide My Feet (African-American Spiritual)

The Walter O. Evans Center and the SCAD Museum of Art 

Constructed within the salvaged brick walls originally erected by African American slaves in antebellum Savannah, the SCAD Museum of Art is a rehabilitated modern repository of artistry that emerged from the ashes of the Central of Georgia railway-compound of abandoned and collapsing freight warehouses. 

Honestly, the SCAD Museum of Art complex is an awe-inspiring sight to behold. See it for yourself. As described in the impressive 2017 coffee table book SCAD: The Architecture of a University, "the museum would be the largest architectural rehabilitation and construction initiative in SCAD history — indeed, in the history of Savannah." I promise the description is not an exaggeration.

Located immediately behind SCAD's Kiah Hall (see PFS-106) just to the west of Martin Luther King Boulevard, the landmark facility includes this eighty-six-foot steel and glass luminous lantern lighting the atrium to the museum's welcome center. At night this scene is spectacular, particularly when attending an event at any of its outdoor lecture or performance spaces.

Step inside the museum to find a 250-seat theatre. Classes and conservation labs provide SCAD students with the knowledge required to study, restore and preserve historical works of art that illuminated our winding path here. Indeed, this fabulous museum swells the pride of this 2010 SCAD graduate.

The André Leon Talley Gallery is among my favorites within the museum. The celebrated fashion designer opened this gallery in 2011. He's long been intimately associated with the annual SCAD student fashion show, presenting the annual ATL Lifetime Achievement Award in Fashion to such luminaries as Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Miuccia Prada, and my all-time favorite: Karl Lagerfeld.

Christmas Day was approaching as I painted this Postcard from Savannah and as I write these words. Let me suggest you take some time over the holiday to watch on the museum's website (scadmoa.org) a documentary produced by SCAD Founder Paula Wallace entitled: A Thousand Miles and Counting. The short film recounts the story of William and Ellen Craft and their daring escape from slavery, beginning on a plantation located just outside of Macon, Georgia, during the Christmas season.

As the couple described in their heart-wrenching book—Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery—Ellen Craft appeared 'almost white.' Around Christmas in 1848, she managed to buy tickets on a train to Savannah for herself and William, who pretended to be her enslaved servant while Ellen dressed as a man! And thus, the couple's escape from slavery began via a long journey, including its initial stop in Savannah. The adventure first brought them to Philadelphia, but the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 next led them to Canada and Great Britain. After the Civil War, the Crafts returned to Georgia, living nearby Savannah on 1800 acres of land they’d bought. There, they also operated a school designed to improve the education and employment of Freedmen.

Also housed at the SCAD Museum of Art is The Walter O. Evans Center for African American Studies. Dr. Evans and his wife, Linda, are beloved in Savannah, known for their collection of African American Art, including notable works by Jacob Lawrence and Romare Beardon. The couple also owns a comprehensive collection of abolitionist Frederick Douglass memorabilia. Incredibly detailed in the 880-page book If I Survive: Frederick Douglas and Family in the Walter O. Evans Collection, the book tells the story of the activities of the freedom fighter and his family members, who played essential roles in his success.