Erin Dunn ’08 Wins Margie E. West Prize

After graduating from GPS in 2008, Erin Dunn ventured to Atlanta, Georgia, to study at Emory University. Having developed a love for art history while at GPS after taking a class with Cathie Ault Kasch '72, Erin earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in the field and furthered her studies on the subject at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. 

 

Following a two-year fellowship with Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia, Erin earned a full-time position with the organization in 2014. Today she is a curator of modern and contemporary art and has organized numerous exhibitions including Watershed: Contemporary Landscape Photography, Feels like Freedom: Phillip J. Hampton, Bruce Davidson: Face to Face, and solo presentations of work by artists Sonya Clark and Noel W Anderson. In addition, Erin has spearheaded projects for Telfair’s #art912 initiative, which raises the visibility and promotes the vitality of artists living and working in Savannah. 

 

This fall, Erin was named the fourth recipient of the Margie E. West Distinguished Alumni Award from Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. This award is given to a distinguished alum and includes an invitation to curate or create an exhibition for the Margie E. West Gallery, located on Georgia’s campus.

 

Erin curated a show of photography by Ansley West Rivers titled Ansley West Rivers: Holding Time, having previously worked with her at Telfair. “The gallery’s curator, Dr. Katie Geha, reached out about pairing me with Ansley again, knowing we had worked together previously, and it was an easy sell for me to get back together and see her new creations,” she said. The pair spent about a year planning the show—everything from gallery layout to framing and shipping logistics—and the show opened on September 14.

 

Erin says she felt genuinely honored and proud to win the Margie E. West Award, which allowed her to reconnect with previous collaborators and a school she loved. “It was a chance for me to dive deeply into a subject I was interested in,” she said. “A throughline in my educational career, at GPS, Emory, and UGA, has been teachers and mentors who have helped me learn to think critically and who have pushed my thought process forward. I enjoy getting to revisit and support these places.”

 

Ansley West Rivers: Holding Time completes its run this Friday, November 3.