MTA Fall 2020 Patron Collections Visits 

​Last Fall, MTA Patrons had the opportunity to visit the renowned private collections of Walter O. Evans and Larry and Brenda Thompson, who have focused on collecting, stewarding and giving their works of African American Art for and to the larger public. Learn more about our recent 2020 Collections Visits below! 
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​Dr. Walter O. Evans, a pioneering collector of African American Art and Heritage, has assembled one of the largest private collections of works by African American artists in existence. His collection features some of the most important artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, Evans began collecting art as a young man while attending college. By the 1970’s, working as a physician, Evans began to focus his collection on works by African American artists. His collection, which includes more than 500 works in media such as painting and sculpture, spans 150 years. To share this cultural legacy with the larger public, Dr. Walter O. Evans and his wife, Linda Evans, selected 80 works for an exhibition that began in 1991 and traveled continuously until 2007. The works were shown in more than 45 museums and university galleries across the country and selections were loaned to several U.S. embassies and major museums around the world. Evans has donated 70 significant works from his collection to the Savannah College of Art and Design.
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​Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson have amassed a remarkable collection of African American art from around the country. Their collection includes paintings, prints and sculpture dating from the 1890’s to the present. In collecting works by both celebrated artists and artists considered emerging, regional or lesser known, the Thompson’s collection offers a more in-depth, inclusive understanding of African American artists and their work. The Thompsons have not only identified and supported rising artists, but also cultivated meaningful, lasting relationships with a variety of artists and their families. In 2012, the Thompsons donated 100 works from their collection to the Georgia Museum of Art and funded a major endowment to support a new curatorial position at the museum for African American and African Diasporic art. Each year, the museum honors an African American artist who had made significant contributions to the visual arts with the Thompson Award.