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Well OK, they didn't eat the town , they just bought it. OK, they didn't buy all of it, just most of it.
Art Schools are not usually famous for being good with real estate, but the Savannah College of Art and Design is the exception. Working with the City of Savannah they have acquired real estate all over town and converted dead empty buildings into places alive with creative energy.
A good example of this is the former Weis movie theater downtown on Broughton Street that they converted into a performance space. It is shown in our small feature photo at the top of the page, and the larger version at the bottom of the page. The SCAD theater is located on Broughton Street, which you could say is Savannah's Main Street. At this end of town, the college also owns the Red Gallery, the Jen Library and 2 residence halls.
Without this investment of money, creativity and energy into the city, Savannah would not be the incredibly vital city that it is today. The Savannah College of Art and Design is not only a famous art school that is the largest one in the United States, it is a model for what colleges and universities can accomplish in urban renewal and revitalization.
In the first photo to the left is shown the "book column" at the Ex Libris art supply and book store on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. If you are an artist and you are coming through Savannah, you should allot some time to drop in and browse this store. The range of materials for almost any conceivable media that you work in just might be here.
The second photo to the left shows a detail shot of a scene on the side of one of the schools buildings on Chatham Square. We included this photograph simply because we thought the colors of the building, the gate and the tree were just yummy.
These photos were taken in January of 2006. Copyright 2007, Frenchtowner.com, All rights reserved. If you would like permission to use any of our photos, drop us a line here. |
