Savannah Art Gallery Guide
Laney Contemporary1810 Mills B Lane Blvd., Savannah, GA 31405
Laney Contemporary was founded in 2017, and currently stands as the premiere high art gallery in Savannah. Prior to opening the space, the gallery’s namesake Susan Laney made her mark curating numerous exhibitions at the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art (SCAD MOA), including shows by Stephanie Howard and Kevin Cooley, both of whom would later go on to exhibit in her own space. In addition to representing nationally-recognized artists from across the southeast, Laney Contemporary has also become home to several prominent local artists such as Katherine Sandoz, Betsy Cain, and Will Penny, helping to increase their global profile through their participation in major art events like Art Week in Miami and Future Fair in New York. Additionally, Laney has a partnership with Thompson Savannah, Hyatt Hotels’ Eastern Wharf location, providing installations by the artists that the gallery represents.
Susan Laney, director; Sarah Cherry, assistant director
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11am-5pm; Saturday 11am-2pm; and by appointment.Phone: (912) 438-4442E-mail: info@laneycontemporary.comInstagram: @laneycontemporaryWebsite: laneycontemporary.comSelected Recent Exhibitions: Katherine Sandoz, Water Ways; Will Penny, Nothing to Fear; Michael Scoggins, Goose; Namwon Choi, En Route.Gallery Type: Commercial
Location Gallery251 Bull St., Savannah, GA 31401 (Inside Austin Hill Realty)
Location Gallery is a contemporary art space that shows eclectic, avant-garde solo and group exhibitions predominantly by emerging artists. With each exhibition, they partner with a local non-profit, with a portion of each sale going to the organizations benefit. The gallery’s personality is largely defined by it’s Director Peter Roberts, a locally-renowned paper cut artist in his own right, who prefers quirky, funky, weird themes and ideas over traditional forms (although he’s known to diverge from that from time to time, with shows by photographer Bud Green and painter Mary Hartman being two examples). The group shows in particular attract a virtual who’s who of Savannah creatives, all itching to create something outside their norm, or to support the non-profit partner for the exhibition in question. Location Gallery doesn’t represent artists in a traditional sense, but certain notable artists are part of their regular rotation, like painters Stacy Jean Albano and Michelle Perez, and the guys from The Artists and the Truck collective.
Peter Roberts, director
Hours: M-F 10am-5pm; Saturday 11am-3pm; and by appointment.E-mail: show@locationgallery.netInstagram: @locationgalleryWebsite: locationgallery.netSelected Previous Exhibitions: Stephen Garrison “The Stories We Tell Ourselves”; Savannopoly Group Exhibition; Michelle Perez “Spare Parts:Gallery Type: Commercial/Non-Profit
The Ellis Gallery (formerly the gallery at Sulfur Studios) and On::View Residency Space2301 Bull St., Savannah, GA 31401
The On::View Residency Space and the Ellis Gallery, both located in the same building in the heart of Savannah’s artsy Starland District, are two of the three main exhibition areas organized and curated by ARTS Southeast (the other being the Drive-Thru Art Box). The organization, which has humble roots in the space as a single artist studio occupied by one of the founders Jennifer Moss, has grown to become Savannah’s premiere independent art non-profit. The residency space occupies a small studio with large windows directly facing busy Bull Street, while the Ellis Gallery is further into the building, just through the Sulfur Shop, where one can find small artworks, zines, t-shirts, records, and the ARTS Southeast’s signature publication, IMPACT.
The On::View Residency Space is offered in one- and two-month blocks based on a rotating semi-quarterly submission window. The highly coveted space has, over the years, showcased talented locals, as well as artists from as far away from Savannah as Germany and Japan. The type of artists featured is diverse both stylistically and in terms of ethnic and gender identity, and could be fairly described as “you never know what you’re gonna get.”
The Ellis Gallery, recently renamed in honor of Savannah Local Artist Market (SLAM) founder Charlie Ellis III, has an evolving format, but in recent years the space has featured high quality solo exhibitions by mid-career and emerging artists like Lisa D. Watson, Gabrielle Torres, and Samantha Mack, and projects that push boundaries, like Axelle Kieffer’s excellent Paper Cuts: An International Collage Exchange in 2023. They also feature regular juried group shows that attract some of the southeast’s biggest artists, exhibitions like LOOK!, which included luminaries like Rebecca Braziel, Betsy Cain, Liz Sargent, Marcus Kenney and Susan Laney.
Emily Earl, executive director ARTS Southeast; Jon Witzky, program director ARTS Southeast; Samantha Mack, exhibitions assistant & director of public relations ARTS Southeast
Hours: Thursday-Sunday 12pm-5pm and during special events.Phone: (912) 231-7105E-mail: info@artssoutheast.orgInstagram: @sulfurstudiosWebsite: artssoutheast.orgSelected Previous Exhibitions: Materia Prima group exhibition; Things That Have Never Been juried show; Libbi Ponce On::View Residency projectGallery Type: Non-Profit; a program of ARTS Southeast
The Drive Thru Art Box at Green Truck Neighborhood Pub2430 Habersham St., Savannah, GA 31401
The Drive Thru Art Box was started by artist and activist Matt Hebemehl over a decade ago as an alternative venue to showcase local creatives. It occupies what was once a literal drive through restaurant’s menu box, and overlooks the parking lot of what is now Green Truck Neighborhood Pub. The exterior windows of the box divide the space into three nearly equal panels, and artists who have shown in the space before have alternatively incorporated and ignored these enforced design elements. The depth of the box itself has allowed for sculptural/relief projects to be featured extensively, including the excellent psychedelic landscape Beer Garden that textile artist Kelly Boehmer crafted to begin 2024, as well as Will Penny’s groundbreaking Small Talk, which featured an AI-powered Big Mouth Billy Bass that viewers could interact with. The space is currently curated by ARTS Southeast, ensuring a certain caliber of artist in each iteration of the project.
Emily Earl, executive director ARTS Southeast; Jon Witzky, program director ARTS Southeast; Samantha Mack, exhibitions assistant & director of public relations ARTS Southeast
Hours: Always publicly visiblePhone: (912) 231-7105E-mail: info@artssoutheast.orgInstagram: @sulfurstudiosWebsite: artssoutheast.org/drivethruartSelected Previous Exhibitions: Kelly Boehmer Beer Garden; Will Penny Small Talk; Chris Moss 100 Proposals for the Drive Thru Art BoxGallery Type: Non-Profit Rotating Outdoor Installation Space
Kobo Gallery (closing June 30, 2024)33 Barnard St., Savannah, GA 31401
Kobo Gallery is an artist-run co-op, where each artist involved contributes time and money to the success of the space. With its location downtown, it is one of the few spaces outside of City Market where local artists have the opportunity to show off their wares to the downtown tourists, and has therefore attracted quality creatives from numerous disciplines over the years. But that isn’t to say there isn’t anything for locals. Although Kobo Gallery doesn’t typically have the kinds of receptions common to most commercial art spaces in Savannah, they do feature and ever-changing collection of works by artists who have long been celebrated locally. Amongst current highlights are paintings by monk-turned-painter Daniel E. Smith and internationally-recognized figurative artist Antoine de Villiers.
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. dailyPhone: (912) 201-0304E-mail: info-@-kobogallery.comInstagram: @kobogalleryWebsite: www.kobogallery.comGallery Type: Co-op
ArtStryngs Gallery530 E. Liberty St., Savannah, GA 31401
ArtStryngs is a new venture by the mother and son team of Rebecca and Adam Wyatt, half of a complex that includes Suntone Recording Studio. Rebecca runs the gallery portion, while Adam focuses on the musical component. For their first and only exhibition thus far, they debuted with a group show featuring a collection of known and unknown local artists. Using the full breath of the clean, contemporary art space, they quickly established themselves as one of the premiere places to view art in the city. They’ve yet to establish a track record, thus far, making it impossible to predict what to expect. But the elder Wyatt has spoken of a combination of purely artistic events like their opener, and pay-to-play Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) thesis shows, so there will likely be a mix of themes, media, and quality moving forward.
Victoria Paterno, gallery and studio Coordinator; Rebecca Wyatt, owner
Hours: M-F 11am-6pm; Saturday 11am-4pm.Phone: (912) 710-8464E-mail: Via webform at https://www.artstryngs.com/contactInstagram: @artstryngsWebsite: artstryngs.comSelected Previous Exhibitions: HeartStryngs group exhibitionGallery Type: Commercial/Rental
Cedar House Gallery122 E. 36th St., Savannah, GA 31401
Cedar House Gallery is located inside a distinctive 3-story cedar-sided house tucked off of the main strip of Savannah’s artsy Starland District. The gallery occupies two main rooms on the ground floor, and the rest of the structure is divided up into studios for local artists. Throughout the year, the space holds showcases involving the artists who occupy the studios. Many of the gallery artists at Cedar House are just beginning their careers, but several supremely talented creatives have made their way through the space, including rising superstar Gabrielle Torres, well-established painter Thomas Mitz, and now, Jazz Howington. When the solo exhibitions in the main gallery feature works by these local luminaries, the space is certainly worth a visit.
The majority of the year, however, the gallery is filled with MFA thesis exhibition shows, mostly by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) students, so underrated chief curator Sam Williams is mostly relegated to art management instead of art selection. Some of these shows are quite good, but as is the case with any pay-to-play gallery space, some exhibitions should probably go back to the drawing board.
Sam Williams, gallery director
Hours: Th-S 12pm-5pm; and by appointmentPhone: (407) 792-8686E-mail: Sam@CedarHouseGallerySav.comInstagram: @cedarhousegallerysavWebsite: https://www.cedarhousegallerysav.comSelected Previous Exhibitions: Jazz Howington Incandescent Adoration; Thomas Mitz and Emmy Dudley New Paintings; Stephanie Forbes ROOTGallery Type: Private Gallery and Studios
Gallery Name: Studio Capilla806 E. 31st St., Savannah, GA 31401
As of Spring 2024, Studio Capilla is simply one of the most exciting art spaces in Savannah. Owner and curator Eduardo Capilla is an artist and art lover following his heart, allowing talented young artists to come into the downstairs of a house he owns and make amazing art projects in it. Installations are running about quarterly, and back to back showings of Samantha Mack’s Things Removed, a soft and beautiful meditation on nature and our role in it, followed by Nathaniel Thompson’s brazenly weird For Your Convenience, where he created a bizzaro-world convenience store in the space, have made anticipation build for “what’s next.”
Capilla’s eye for local talent stems from the fact that the curator attends virtually everything art-related happening in town, giving him a well-educated understanding of the Savannah art community. Although the studio is open only periodically, Capilla maintains a strong artistic presence through his connections to other local institutions, like ARTS Southeast and Cleo the Project Space, who have, in turn, helped to promote his under the radar gallery.
Eduardo Capilla, owner and curator
Hours: Varies by installation and by appointmentE-mail: studiocapilla@gmail.comInstagram: @studiocapillaSelected Previous Exhibitions: Nathaniel Thompson For Your Convenience; Samantha Mack Things RemovedGallery Type: Private Project Space
Signature Gallery303 W. Saint Julian St., Savannah, GA 31401
City Market wasn’t always the tourist friendly destination it is today, and Signature Gallery was one of the early investors in the area. Now, more than thirty years later, they’re still working to bring art to visitors and locals alike.Kathy Miller and Sharon Saseen are both elderly, but they continue to work on their craft, just as they did when founding the gallery back in the 1990s. Artists belonging to the co-op have come and gone over the years, including folks like Olivia Beaumont and master en plein air painter Kip Bradley, but the pair always remain, offering space for local artists to share their work in a prime location. What visitors might see will vary depending on who’s currently in the group, but poor work and the lack of sales that go along with it does’t last long in a space like this, so at any given time there’s a good chance one will end up spotting something worth investigating further amongst the collection.
Kathy Miller and Sharon Saseen, owners
Hours: M-Th 10am-6pm; F-Sa 10am-8pm; Su 10am-5pmPhone: (912) 233-3082Website: signaturegallery.comSelected Previous Exhibitions: 30th Anniversary Group ExhibitionGallery Type: Co-op
The Collage48 Posey St., Savannah, GA 31406
The Collage isn’t a gallery; it’s a creative hub made up of a t-shirt shop, a recording studio, artist Zay Hutchins’ workspace, and a multi-use venue. It’s the latter, specifically during The Collage’s periodic Sunday Suppers, that art gets hung on the walls and celebrated, alongside live musical performances and dancing crowds.It’s not just a different way to experience art, but also an important creative avenue for artists of color, who tend to make up the majority of Sunday Supper participants. Each event has a theme, and artists are asked to create works within that theme. Many times, the braintrust at the collage are presenting ideas that just aren’t being shown in mainstream gallery culture, like shows built around around sexual activity or what it means to have dark skin.The events always happen on a Sunday, typically once a quarter, and include food trucks alongside the art and live music.
Zay Hutchins, Phillip Davis, Cornelius Brown, Zaquel Lawrence, owners
Hours: Varies by eventInstagram: @artbyzayworld, @itsphilbeachSelected Previous Exhibitions: Various Sunday Supper eventsGallery Type: Periodic Art Space
The Gallery Espresso234 Bull St., Savannah, GA 31401
The oldest coffee shop in Savannah has always been a place to see art, and over the years numerous high profile and exceptional artists have filled the space. Pop/stencil artist MrMahaffey (aka Michael Mahaffey) has shown at least half a dozen times in the gallery, and psycho-pop painter Maxx Feist did a show there in 2023. And more than two decades ago Katherine Sandoz, who is now recognized as one of Savannah’s highest profile artists, debuted the botanical series of paintings for which she has become famous at the coffee shop.
The space is crowded and full of weird lounge chairs, tables, and antique oddities, but no seat in the place is far from a fine piece of artwork, making it the ideal spot for a longer contemplation of a single work, rather than necessarily taking in the whole show. And there’s something nice about sipping an oat milk latte and munching on a scone while sitting adjacent to a quirky animal portrait by Phil Musen or a colorful gridded map painting by Julia McGahee. Not every show is a hit, but you never know if you might be getting an early look at an artist who may be one of Savannah’s big names in the years to come.
Jessica Barnhill, owner and curator
Hours: M-Th 7:30am-8pm; F-Su 7:30am-9pmPhone: (912) 233-5348E-mail: Via webform at galleryespresso.com/contact/Instagram: @galleryespressoWebsite: https://www.galleryespresso.comSelected Previous Exhibitions: Numerous exhibitions by MrMahaffey, aka Michael Mahaffey; Sandra Dutton; Maxx FeistGallery Type: Coffee Shop
The Sentient Bean13 E Park Ave., Savannah, GA 31401
Located just off Forsyth Park, The Sentient Bean has long been a go-to coffee shop and meeting space for locals and tourists alike. For years, the walls were curated by the folks over at Sulfur Studios, but once they transitioned into the non-profit ARTS Southeast, they needed to end their partnership.Fortunately, since 2022 Sulfur Studios co-founder AJ Perez has stepped in to independently continue putting on shows in the space, and the quality of the work on display has continued unabated. Exhibitions by well-established Savannah-based artists like Maxx Feist and Zay Hutchins are the norm rather than the exception, and those by lesser known artists, like 2023’s Things You See On A Journey To The Underworld by Isak Dove, are thoughtful, interesting, and, simply, good.
The coffee shop is large with high ceilings, making art-viewing easy, although the pieces themselves can, at times, become enveloped by the vastness of the main room. The quality of the work, combined with The Sentient Bean’s standing as the place in Savannah where you’re most likely to either end up running into an old friend or making a new one, make it a must visit art venue.
AJ Perez (independent curator hired to handle the art shows)
Hours: 7am-7pm everydayPhone: (912) 232-4447Instagram: @sentientbeanWebsite: sentientbean.comSelected Previous Exhibitions: Maxx Feist Out of the Mouths of Madness; Zay Hutchins Dripping Crown Chronicles; Bradley Collins Found A JobGallery Type: Coffee Shop
Hop Atomica535 E. 39th St., Savannah, GA 31401
Hop Atomica wasn’t originally intended to show art, but soon after it opened, local artist and curator Stephanie Forbes, who was not an employee at the restaurant, began telling anyone at the brewpub who would listen that the long, blank western wall needed art. A collection of works by Lisa D. Watson ended up being the first exhibition, followed by en plein air paintings by Kip Bradley, and the space was off and running as an art venue.Today the restaurant takes submissions for new artists through their website, and rotates shows every two months. It’s clear that the local art scene has bought in, because the gallery continues to showcase high quality work, including a recent group event featuring art star Juliana Lupacchino.
Hop Atomica has become a haven for locals, with its somewhat hidden Starland location, and the art shown in the space seems conscious of its clientele. But let’s be real, whether one be local or visiting from out of town, who doesn’t want to eat a slice of pizza and drink a beer while looking at art?
Corey Reuter, manager
Hours: Su-Thu 11am-9pm; F-Sa 11am-10:30pmPhone: (912) 335-2715E-mail: Cory@hopatomica.comInstagram: @hopatomicaWebsite: https://www.hopatomica.comSelected Previous Exhibitions: Lisa D. Watson; Kip Bradley; Lisa RosenmeierGallery Type: Brewery/Restaurant
Savannah Cultural Arts Center GallerySavannah Cultural Arts Center, 201 Montgomery St., Savannah, GA 31401
The gallery at Savannah’s Cultural Arts Center showcases a mix of surprisingly avant-garde group exhibitions staged by under-recognized curator Antonia B. Larkin, both on her own and in collaboration with local arts and cultural organizations, alongside community-driven shows drawn from the various arts programs that the city offers. Larkin has done an excellent job of thoughtfully reflecting the communities interests and concerns through art, especially when creating dialogues about race. The 2024 group exhibition Boundless, for example, brought the discussion of Black hair to the forefront, while a previous Juneteenth-themed exhibition included a roundtable discussion on both the art and the difficult topic of race relations, a talk that was equally attended by both people of color and caucasians.
Antonia B. Larkin, visual arts specialist, The Cultural Arts Center and Cultural Resources
Hours: M-Th 9am-7pm; F 9am-6pm; Sa 10am-2pm; Closed Sunday.Phone: (912) 651-6783E-mail: scacgallery@savannahga.govInstagram: @savannahcultureWebsite: savannahga.gov/1036/GallerySelected Previous Exhibitions: Boundless group show; Reclaiming America by the SOY X SOY art collective; Beyond Sight multi sensory group exhibition.Gallery Type: City-run not-for-profit
Cleo the Project Space (Formerly Cleo the Gallery)915 B Montgomery St., Savannah, GA 31401
Cleo the Project Space (Formerly Cleo the Gallery) is a non-profit art gallery featuring under-represented emerging local and out of town artists. More than any other art space in town, Cleo presents “art for arts’ sake,” work where sales are secondary to the creative process. Curated by talented Artistic Director Jeanette McCune, Cleo the Project Space has been steadily rising in influence within the local art scene. McCune first opened Cleo inside Abode in East Savannah in 2021, before transitioning to the literal back room of a Starland business for about a year. Finally, in 2023, she was able to move the project space into the building previously occupied by Stephanie Forbes’ Rule of Three Gallery, repositioning McCune’s Cleo as one of the Hostess City of the South’s few standalone galleries. In addition to bi-monthly solo and group exhibitions, Cleo the Project Space offers periodic “Saturday Catch-Ups,” where McCune brings an artist in for a couple of hours on a Saturday and they’re given free rein to talk about whatever they’d like, with audience members encouraged to join in on the conversation. Previous catch-ups have included the likes of Ben Tollefsen, Tafy LaPlanche, and Nae’Keisha Jones.
Jeanette McCune, artistic and executive director
Hours: W-Su 1pm-6pm and by appointmentPhone: (912) 328-4776E-mail: jeanette@cleotheprojectspace.orgInstagram: @cleo_the_project_spaceWebsite: cleotheprojectspace.orgSelected Previous Exhibitions: Caitlin McDonagh Entangled; Crisp Kitch group exhibition; Joshua Edward Bennett Strawberry, Plum, Lemon-LimeGallery Type: Non-Profit
Gallery 24242424 Drayton St., Savannah, GA 31401
Gallery 2424 is a traditional white box style gallery, with high walls and good lighting, the type of space you’re more likely to find in a bigger city than Savannah. It fluctuates between being a rental gallery, showcasing mainly Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) thesis exhibitions, and an invitational space. Many of their events coincide with First Friday in Starland, or take place over a weekend mid-month, so their advertised hours of operation are often expanded. They tend to use Instagram to advertise such special engagements, so be sure to check there for additional information.Despite it’s occasional pay-to-play model, the work featured at Gallery 2424 is of particularly high quality, thanks in large part to co-Director Erin Dunn, who also works as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Telfair Museums. Not only does this mean that Dunn has unparalleled connections within the Savannah art scene, but also that she and Walke are well aware of the local artistic trends, and are able to stage exhibitions that feel particularly relevant to the region.
Erin Dunn and Ben Walke, co-directors
Hours: Saturday and Sunday 1-4pm and by AppointmentPhone: (912) 373-6828E-mail: info@gallery2424.comInstagram: @gallery_2424Website: gallery2424.comSelected Previous Exhibitions: Jennifer Moss Erosion Patterns, One By One group exhibitionGallery Type: Commercial/Rental
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