Over 250 mythological creatures crawl through Jepson Center's latest 'Making Marks' exhibit

Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center is known for bringing some of the most notable artists from all over the world to the Hostess City of the South. For its latest exhibition, however, curators are exhibiting work from local creators whose expressive output is rarely seen.

“Making Marks” is the institution’s yearly showcase of works created through its city-funded community outreach programs. Started nearly three decades ago by Harry DeLorme, Telfair’s director of education, the annual event has grown from exhibiting the work done solely by participants in the City of Savannah’s Therapeutics Program, to now featuring the creations of 18 “community partners,” each of which hosts museum-sponsored art-making happenings throughout the year. Those partners include organizations dedicated to improving the lives of locals with physical impairments, such as Savannah Speech and Hearing Center and Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision, correctional facilities operated by the Chatham Country Sheriff’s Department and the Regional Youth Detention Center, and veteran-advocacy groups, including the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Georgia National Guard, among others.

“My early years working at the Telfair, long before [the Jepson Center] was built, part of my goal [was] to extend our audience as far as possible, make the museum as accessible as possible,” DeLorme explained. “I’ve always believed in having community art exhibitions and school exhibitions.”

“As the museum has grown, and as our staff grew, we were able to do more of those kinds of programs,” he continued, noting that the City of Savannah has been a major sponsor of the event over the years. “We can really reach people across the community in any situation you could possibly imagine.”

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'What art does is helpful, it does heal, it does transform people'

Every iteration of “Making Marks” is different, thanks to the fact that DeLorme and his fellow curators tie the event to an exhibition by one of those aforementioned notable artists. This year’s muse was “Created Beasts: Sculpture by Ulysses Davis,” an exhibition of work by the Georgia-born sculptor, who spent much of his life carving fantastic creatures out of wood from his Savannah barber shop.

As such, program participants were tasked with realizing their own mythological critters, more than 250 of which crawl across the walls of the Jepson Center.

“It’s really fun,” said Telfair Museums’ Outreach Coordinator Rachel Stayer. “What’s really wonderful is that they get to make their own decisions. We had this idea, and how are you going to create your own thing? So for them to take ownership…that’s really the magic that’s happening.”

The process of creation for each group took place over the course of three visits: First, they built the basic shapes out of newspaper, cardboard, and tape; then program facilitators came back with plaster gauze for the artists to use to solidify their visions; and, finally, on the third meeting, the participants were able to add paint and gemstone eyes, the latter of which is a common feature to the beasts Davis himself created.

“Each step of the way they were coming alive,” Stayer noted. “Each creature was really coming from nothing and then gaining their own personalities and their own stories.”

“Once you finally complete it, we’ve been working and working until it’s finally done, they’re just really amazed and impressed with what they’ve created,” she went on to say.

Along with building their creatures, “Making Marks” artists were also asked questions like “Why is art important to you?” and “How do you feel when you’re making art?” Their answers are, in many cases, included alongside the pieces that program participants have created, as well as in the accompanying exhibition journal.

Beyond the work on the walls, however, is the impact that the program has on those who take part in it. While it’s certainly thrilling for these folks to have their creations in such a prestigious space as Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center, the program’s brain trust understands that it’s the act of creation itself that has the potential to really make a difference in these folks’ lives.

“No matter what challenge it is, we recognize that what art does is helpful, it does heal, it does transform people,” said Stayer. And it really gives them that boost of confidence.”

“It’s just something that they need,” she continued. “It really helps them escape a little bit, and focus on a kind of internal meditation process.”

“People feel like ‘I don’t have talent’ or ‘I’m not an artist’ or whatever, but anyone can make art,” DeLorme went on to add. “And anybody can get something out of making art, can have some kind of meaningful experience with it. No matter what their life situation, their abilities, anything like that, it doesn’t really matter; they can get something positive out of the process of making.”

“Making Marks” is on view at Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center at 121 Barnard St. through April 7, 2024.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Jepson Center's 2023 Making Marks exhibition