Myth, Memory & Imagination

July 26 – September 30, 2001

Universal Themes in the Life and Culture of the South is a thematic exhibition drawn from an extensive and remarkable collection of painting, photography, sculpture and folk art assembled by Julia J. (“Judy”) Norrell of Washington, DC.

A native of Arkansas, Norrell has gathered works of art that pulse to the deep rhythms of the American South, both past and present. Unified by the collector’s sensibility, the varied objects selected for Myth, Memory and Imagination reflect the essence of Southern life. These amplify a number of common themes, a relatedness to home and land, to family and community, to ritual and religion. In its entirety, the exhibition illustrates a more inclusive view of the Southern experience-a revisioning of the romantic myth of the Old South to reflect its complexity and multi-culturalism.