TIFTON–Donna Hatcher proved herself to be quite a memorable person during her 20 years as a faculty member at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Now her legacy will continue in the form of the Donna Hatcher Memorial Endowed Scholarship which will give talented students of the future a chance to experience the many charms of ABAC.
The School of Arts and Sciences will conduct a Silent Auction and Dessert Reception for Hatcher’s many works of art and sculpture from 7-8:30 p.m. on March 12 in the Tom M. Cordell Conference Center at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture.
Interested persons can view auction items on March 10-12 from 1-3 p.m. each day in the Center, located near the main exhibit hall at the Museum.
Dr. Matthew Anderson, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said the proceeds from the sale will set the stage for talented students in the arts to attend ABAC and take advantage of the new facilities in recently opened Ernest Edwards Hall.
“Donna was an immensely talented artist and gifted instructor,” Anderson said. “The Donna Hatcher Memorial Endowed Scholarship, recently endowed by her family, carries on her legacy of making a positive impact on ABAC students.”
Hatcher passed away at the age of 53 on Aug. 9, 2020. Anderson said the scholarship in her honor will be presented to a student from South Georgia enrolled in the Fine Arts program at ABAC.
“My students are the most profound works of art, and sometimes, I have been a part of what they are actualizing,” Hatcher once said. “I absolutely love it.”
The pieces in the collection include a range of mediums, forms, and subject matter, such as blown glass, found object sculpture, assemblages, photographs, drawings, prints and paintings, that span from her early artistic works to creations in 2020.
According to the Hatcher Collection website, https://www.hatcherartcollection.com/, the blown glass vessels are filled with transparent, yet bold colors that swirl and blend visually throughout each form. Her glass works are one-of-a-kind, asymmetrical forms, never repeated.
Hatcher’s works on paper consist of drawings, collages, watercolors, and prints including but not limited to the lithography, silkscreen, and intaglio process. Her subject matter pertains to the figure, text, and other combined imagery and is thought provoking, moving and energetic.
Many of her prints, drawings and watercolors on paper were completed during her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Georgia and Cornell University. Even though Hatcher did not sign a lot of her pieces, many works are signed in this collection.
Born in Albany, Hatcher spent most of her life in Mitchell County where she graduated as the Valedictorian at Westwood School in Camilla. She continued her education at the University of Georgia where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture and Art History before earning her Master of Fine Arts degree in Art from Cornell University.
Hatcher accepted a position as a temporary fulltime instructor at ABAC in the fall semester of 2000. For more information on the Donna Hatcher Memorial Endowed Scholarship Silent Auction and Dessert Reception, interested persons can contact Dr. Deidre Martin at dmartin@abac.edu.
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