Join us on a Journey to the Beloved Community… An Exhibition and Related Events After 34 years of coffee and conversation and working to quietly change “who knows who” in Savannah, we are taking our story to the big stage at the Jepson Center for the Arts at 207 West York Street and at the Indigo Sky Gallery at 915 Waters Avenue.  Hundreds of people have been directly involved in citizen advocacy relationships over the past three decades here in Savannah. These people can be thought of as “social artists.” People have used their own social networks and their own social, political and civic skills to create a more welcoming community. We hope you will mark your calendars for this upcoming series of events and join with us as we share the story of citizen advocacy in some exciting new ways. For more information, call us as 912-236-5798.

Story Quilts by artist and activist Beth Mount July 19- October 14, Jepson Center for the Arts, Varnedoe Gallery, Opening Reception July 19, 6 p.m. Beth Mount and Tom Kohler have been working toward a common cause for over 35 years, Tom in Savannah and Beth in Athens and New York. This common cause is helping people who are diminished because of prejudice toward disability find ways to become important to other people and important in their communities. Beth’s work with people all over the world has lead to the creation of Story Quilts. Each quilt brings the voice of a group of people who have gone unheard to life visually. The work is bright, bold, inspiring and optimistic!

Seeing Savannah: Lyn Bonham’s View of Citizen Advocacy, July 19- December 16, Trustees Gallery, Jepson Center for the Arts, Opening Reception July 19, 6 p.m. Photographer Lyn Bonham has documented several advocate and protégé relationships established through Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy. The photos in this exhibit, which span the years 2000-2010, showcase Bonham’s talent in revealing the essence of her subjects’ relationships.  These black and white portraits allow the viewer to consider what it means to be a member of our community – what it means to be part of our town in our time.

I Am the Beloved Community: Story Quilts of Our Savannah, August 10 – December 16, Jepson Center for the Arts Second Floor Gallery, Opening Reception July 19, 6 pm Experience a collection of neighborhood story quilts made by the children of the West Broad Street YMCA’s Loop it Up Savannah Program, Boys and Girls Club of the Coastal Empire and the seniors of the City of Savannah Hudson Hill Golden Age Center. Get a window into the making of the quilts with Digital Displays by international students from the Savannah College of Art and Design English as a Second Language Department.

Waddie Welcome and the Beloved Community Presentation and Story Quilt Gallery Talk, Thursday, September 27, Jepson Center for the Arts, Nieses Auditorium, 6:00 p.m. Tom Kohler and Susan Earl, co-authors of the award-winning book Waddie Welcome and the Beloved Community will do some old fashioned storytelling. These images and words have traveled the world and now they come to the Jepson Auditorium. You will see people and places you know. Beth Mount will share her newest Story Quilt based on the story of Waddie Welcome and the Beloved Community. This is a Savannah story!

Eye to Eye: The Making of We, September 28-October 24, Indigo Sky Gallery, 915 Waters Avenue, Opening reception Friday September 28, 7:00 p.m. Jerome Meadows is a New Yorker by birth and a Savannahian by choice. He has been commissioned as a public art sculptor throughout the United States. Jerome is coordinating the creation of 5 new pieces of work in Savannah. This work will base on the experiences of local photographers, videographers, painters, printmakers and other artists as they come into relationship with several advocate and protégés.  This original work will be one more way of helping people find their voice to tell their stories.