Hammonds House Museum Reopen with Carly Palmer Exhibit

Visitors Can Experience Departure by Charly Palmer

When Hammonds House Museum Reopens on June 25

After more than a year, Hammonds House Museum is happy to announce that the museum will reopen to the public on Friday, June 25.  Patrons and members have participated in the robust virtual programming offered by the museum since last summer, and now they will be able to come back into the museum to enjoy viewing the artwork in person!  Visitors can experience the current exhibition, Departure by Charly Palmer, through August 1, 2021. This vibrant, thought-provoking solo exhibition features Palmer’s work from the last 30 years, including pieces that have never been seen by the public, as well as new artwork created for this show.

To celebrate, admission is FREE on reopening weekend, but guests are required to register online to reserve a time slot. In addition to the Departure exhibition, there will be special festivities including music by DJ Malik Stone on Friday, June 25 from 12 pm – 4 pm, and artist Charly Palmer will be in the museum signing his exhibition catalog on Sunday, June 27 from 2 pm – 4 pm.

Hammonds House Museum’s new schedule is Fridays & Saturdays from 11 am – 5 pm and Sundays from 12 pm – 5 pm. Admission is via online registration only. Protocols are in place so guests will feel comfortable. Masks are required, and sanitizing stations will be available. For additional details, and to reserve your tickets, visit: hammondshouse.org. 

Departure by Charly Palmer is a retrospective of 30 years of art infused with experience, an Identity Crisis, Divided States, Eminent Domain, Introversion, and a deepening appreciation for Black beauty. He is currently exploring the multiple meanings of departure from the time of the Middle Passage, through the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement, up until now. What does that mean for Black people, and what does it mean for him personally as he embarks on a new and unexpected direction to discover what’s next. The exhibition will serve as a bridge between his older work and newer paintings, and will include mixed media and sculptural elements.

Charly Palmer was born in Fayette, AL and raised in Milwaukee, WI. He relocated to Chicago, IL to study Art and Design at American Academy of Art and School of the Art Institute. As a graphic designer and illustrator, he ran a successful design studio with a Fortune 500 clientele. As an instructor, he has taught design, illustration, and painting at Spelman College, among others. Also, he was the first African American Artist to receive the UCLA Regents Lecture Series. 

Palmer’s path as an artist was inspired by his fascination in his youth by illustrations in Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day. “I could never get enough of the imagery in the book,” he says. Keats’ work was magical and planted a seed in his young heart.

For a period, Palmer worked under the pseudonym Carlos — his alter ego. This allowed him to experiment with spontaneity and fluidity. Many of the Carlos pieces were abstract and more primal than the intense paintings that were solidifying his reputation as a social expressionist. The ultimate fusion of these styles, gleaned from history and powerful life experiences became Palmer’s trademark style.

Today Palmer is widely recognized as a fine artist, a muralist, illustrator of children’s books, teacher, graphic designer, and mentor. Highly sought-after public commissions include posters for the 1996 Olympics and artwork for the 2013 Atlanta Jazz Festival. In 2016 he was selected by Fisk University to create artwork commemorating their 150th anniversary and in 2017 Howard University commissioned him for their 150^th anniversary. A major project for the Green Bay Packers featuring 20 portraits of players hangs in Lambeau Stadium. John Legend chose him to create a portrait for the cover of his album “Bigger Love,” released in June 2020, and Time Magazine asked him to create the cover art for their July 6, 2020 issue. Most recently he was featured in Rolling Stone Magazine. Devoted to his fine art career, Palmer currently lives and works in Atlanta, GA.

Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The National Performance Network, AT&T and WarnerMedia.

Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization which opened in 1988, Hammonds House Museum boasts a permanent collection of more than 450 works including art by Romare Bearden, Robert S. Duncanson, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Amalia Amaki, Radcliffe Bailey and Kojo Griffin. 

Located in a beautiful Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic West End, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. For more information, and to learn how you can support their mission and programming, visit their website: hammondshouse.org.