While the High Museum of Art’s Access for All program, which celebrates its one year anniversary this month, welcomes guests of all ages for a free admission day on the second Wednesday of every month, the program has come to primarily attract adults.
Laurel Humble, the High’s head of creative aging and lifelong learning, said the day, which features studio workshops, craft classes, artist talks, community discussions and jazz performances, has taken shape as a more intimate, adult-centric event as compared to the museum’s other free day, UPS Second Sundays, which tend to attract families and larger crowds.
“Second Sundays can be a bit inaccessible for some because it’s so overwhelmingly large,” said Humble. “Access for All has enabled us to create a second free day that is a little bit different in tone and tenor and is very much focused on adults who might have flexible work schedules or be empty nesters or retired or approaching retirement.”
Credit: Alphonso Whitfield
Credit: Alphonso Whitfield
The Access for All program was created as part of the museum’s Culture Collective initiative, which targets adults who want to explore art, be creative, learn new skills and make social connections.
Among them, count Atlantan Thays Morgan, who has been participating in the Access for All program since September 2024.
“I have become a super fan,” said Morgan, 55. “The High has become my own art amusement park on those days. I view it as a time to explore both the special exhibits, the existing and permanent collections and the curated activities without having to rush.”
Terri Julian Polk, of Dunwoody, has been attending the Access for All program since the very first one in January 2024.
“This year has been an opportunity to learn more about visual art, especially through the group discussions,” said Polk, 60. “The ability to share opinions, call in other forms of art that illuminate the topics and collaborate with others to deep dive into the pieces has allowed me to expand my own understanding.”
In its first year, the program grew from an average of 500 to 1,000 participants, with some select experiences like the Juneteenth celebration attracting as many as 6,000. Launching into year two, Humble said she hopes the program continues to grow.
“It’s a great way to get reacquainted with who the High is today. I would love to see more people taking advantage of that,” she said.
The program is funded for three years, through January 2027, through a partnership with the Arkansas-based Art Bridges Foundation, a $40 million initiative that provides support to 64 museum partners, including the High.
In February, Access for All day will take place on Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In celebration of Black History Month, the Through Lines conversation, a 30-minute gallery talk that puts art pieces in conversation with each other, will compare two paintings by Black artists from different contexts. The late Sam Gilliam, an abstract painter born in 1933 Mississippi and raised in Kentucky, and Natia Lemay, a Canadian painter born in 1985, came from different artistic backgrounds, genders and generations. While their works being discussed, “Firefly Blacktop” by Gilliam and “To All Who Have Come to Dwell in This House” by Lemay, were created five decades apart, they both touch on themes of blackness and invisibility.
“I think it will be an insightful conversation,” said Humble.
The open studio workshop offered during Access for All on Feb. 19 will focus on collage portraits. Participants will experiment by tearing and cutting colors, textures and patterns to make portrait collages from memory, observation and imagination. Participants are also welcome to incorporate their own media elements to bring compositions to life.
IF YOU GO
Access to All
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 19. Free. High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. high.org/access-for-all/
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