Telfair Academy, Savannah (must see)

Standing in Telfair Square, face west towards the pale stucco mansion at 121 Barnard Street. There, you can't help noticing the Telfair Academy with its raised entrance, four-column portico, and the five stone figures arranged across the front. The latter represent Phidias, Michelangelo, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Raphael, announcing the building’s role as an art museum.

The Regency-style mansion was designed by English architect William Jay and completed around 1819 for Alexander Telfair, son of Georgia governor Edward Telfair. Climb one of the side stairways and enter the central hall. The rooms near the front preserve the atmosphere of the family home. Look for curved walls, classical plasterwork, period furniture, and decorative objects connected with the Telfairs. Exhibits also explain that the family fortune was closely tied to plantations and enslaved labor.

Mary Telfair, Alexander’s sister and the last person to bear the family name, left the house and its collections to the Georgia Historical Society in 1875. The mansion was enlarged with new exhibition spaces, including the Rotunda and Sculpture Gallery, in 1886. Thus, it became the first public art museum in the southeastern United States. In 1976, the building was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Continue towards the rear and follow the staircase to the upper Rotunda. Pause beneath the skylight and look around the tall walls, designed to display the Academy’s largest paintings. Murals above represent painting, architecture, sculpture and printmaking. Nearby galleries occupy rooms that once served as family bedrooms and private studies. Displays include American and European paintings, portraits, works on paper, decorative arts and scenes connected with Savannah.

Follow the museum signs to find the bronze Bird Girl statue. Created by Sylvia Shaw Judson in 1936, the figure holds two shallow bowls in her outstretched hands. It originally stood in Bonaventure Cemetery and became widely known after appearing on the cover of John Berendt’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” novel.

Before leaving, descend to the Sculpture Gallery beneath the Rotunda. Identify it by its Ionic columns, high windows, and plaster casts of classical statues. The surrounding galleries often feature American Impressionist, portrait, and Ashcan School paintings. Together, the period rooms, grand exhibition spaces, and locally connected artworks provide an engaging introduction to Savannah’s social and artistic history.