MSMA to feature works of Toccoa artist

The Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art (MSMA) will open Marie T. Cochran: Notes of an Affrilachian daughter in the era of COVID-19 with a February 25 public reception that will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition will be on display through March 25.

Cochran is the Lehman Brady Visiting Professor at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. A self-proclaimed cultural pollinator, she uses visual art to ignite sustainable collaboration in the pursuit of social justice. Born and raised in Toccoa, she received degrees from the University of Georgia (bachelor of fine art) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (master of fine arts).

Her works have appeared in the High Museum of Art (Atlanta), Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library & Museum (Austin, Texas) the Center for African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institute (Washington, D.C.) and the Studio Museum of Harlem (New York City).

In 2011, she co-curated the exhibition, Common Ground, Affrilachia! Where I'm From at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (Pittsburgh). She is also the founding curator of the Affrilachian Artist Project, which celebrates the intersection of cultures in Appalachia and provides a networking platform for African American artists.

MSMA is located at 567 Georgia Street in Demorest. Admission to the museum is free. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.