GMA Gallery Hosts Evelyn Mercer Photography Exhibit

Friday, January 12th, 2024

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture will host “Lost To The Ages,” a visual portfolio of rural Georgia from photographer Evelyn Mercer.

GMA curator Polly Huff said that the exhibition will have a soft opening on Saturday, Jan. 13, and will run through May 24.

Mercer is a native Floridian whose love of outdoor scenery and wildlife photography career began over 40 years ago. Her extensive travels throughout the country have expanded her photography and promoted her work professionally in various art shows and literary publications.

Huff said the GMA exhibited Mercer’s Red Wolf photography and some of her photography twice already as a part of the joint exhibitions “Wild at Heart” and “Back Roads of Georgia.” This time, Mercer gets a one-woman show that will celebrate her preservation photography.

“A good photograph shows you a person or a place,” Huff said. “A great photograph allows you to learn more about them. Evelyn Mercer’s photos do just that. Her shots dive into the souls of the very pieces she photographs, as she seeks to preserve them for future generations through her lens.”

The exhibition includes over 30 images taken by Mercer of places, objects, and structures that are about to disappear due to age and deterioration. Visitors will get to explore churches, houses, plantations, barns, commissaries, train stations, grist mills, wagons, old trucks, and gas pumps, all thoughtfully captured “for the ages” through Mercer’s lens.

An interactive corner will feature a large backdrop panel of one of Mercer’s photos, where visitors to the exhibit can take their own photographs.

All of the photographs in this exhibition will be available for sale.

Mercer will be at the GMA Gallery for an artist reception, casual artist talk, and guided gallery tours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 6 during the GMA’s Folklife Festival. Admission to this event is included with the Folklife Festival ticket that day.

Exhibit hours are 9-3 Tuesday through Friday, and 9-4 on Saturdays and admission is free with a valid GMA Season Pass or included with a daily GMA admission wristband. Season passes and daily admission can be purchased at the GMA Country Store.

For more information on this and future exhibitions, interested persons can contact Huff at [email protected].