Officials of the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art (STMA) delivered the organization’s annual financial report Aug. 19 to a small group of patrons and benefactors attending a meeting at the museum in rural Buckhead, near Madison.
Lisa Thomas Conner, the youngest of Thomas’ daughters, spoke first, describing the monetary facts for Fiscal Year 2023, which saw a gross profit of $289,644 with $12,360 of other income added, but $376,975 total expenses, leading to a net income of -$74,971.
Regardless, Conner expressed reassurance from the podium that the museum remains solvent and on secure financial footing. Counting all assets, it holds more than $1.785 million total, of which more than $1.465 million is represented by its permanent collection of artworks.
“STMA is a very small museum and we’re still recovering from our setbacks during the pandemic,” Conner told her audience. “But I want to reassure you that we do continue to pay our bills in a timely manner and always have. Financial stability continues to be a challenge for the museum, though our successes outweigh our challenges.”
Next up was Museum Director Alyson Vuley, officially taking over the role this summer from Conner, who has served various times in the position since the museum’s 1997 opening.
Vuley mentioned several significant showings throughout the past year, including “Highlights of the Lowrance Collection,” an extensive collection of Steffen Thomas originals bequeathed to STMA in 2022 by the estate of Richard “Dick” Lowrance and his wife, Marjorie.
“Marjorie passed away a few years ago and then Dick Lawrence passed away two years ago, and they left their entire collection to the museum, effectively doubling our permanent collection,” Vuley said.
Just moving the collection from the Lowrance’s home in Atlanta to STMA was “a huge undertaking,” she added.
“It took five trips … to bring that art here,” Vuley said. “And it was really an all-hands-on-deck adventure. Their house was an incredible place filled with art – a lot of memories there – and we could not have done it without Lisa’s intimate knowledge of the production involved.”
The Lowrance exhibit opened in January and just a month later “Rock and Chisel,” a documentary by Atlanta filmmaker Jesse Freeman detailing Thomas’ life and art, debuted on Georgia Public Television. Since then, the film has been shown several times on TV and in various special screenings around the state, including in June at The Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton, with Conner and Freeman both in attendance.
Vuley also mentioned cooperative programs with various colleges and universities, singling out Emory University, which in February hosted the first live audience for a screening of “Rock and Chisel.”
She then said the Watson Brown Junior Board Foundation is funding an expansion of STMA’s permanent collection database to an online searchable database, categorizing it as “a project that has been in the works for many, many years.”
Vuley said STMA board member Leslie Levitas has been spearheading the collection’s online database “for a long time” and she hopes to see it launched by the end of next year.
“We’re not putting the entire collection online, but a curated selection of Steffen Thomas’ work will be available for search online and we are building the other part of that so the art will be accessible,” Vuley explained. “We have this incredibly rich archive of material culture. So, we have started again with the Watson Brown Foundation scanning and documenting and cataloging a lot of the materials from Steffen Thomas’ life, including his letters, his correspondence, just a lot of unique things.”
Finally, Don Roman, president of the STMA executive committee, took a turn at the podium, where he also spoke of the importance of “Rock and Chisel” as a means to expose Steffen Thomas and his art to a wider audience. He then praised the work of museum staff for providing new, unique exhibits to complement the venue’s core artist.
In a printed message to the board and museum members and patrons, Roman called STMA’s current special exhibition, “Something to Declare,” featuring works by Latin American artist collective Contrapunto, “a major accomplishment.”
“We believe that Steffen would be extremely proud of this exhibition,” Roman said. “Not only is the work exquisite, but the exhibition helps to fulfill the museum’s mission to provide greater exposure for underrepresented artists.”
The Steffen Thomas Museum of Art (4200 Bethany Rd., Buckhead) is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with admission $10 for adults, seniors (65 and over) and students $8, and children 6 and under free. Visit online at steffenthomas.org or call 706-3427557 for more information.