Arts & Culture
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On November 28, 1959, the residence of Dr. Calvin and Virginia Kiah at 505 W. 36th Street opened to the public as the Kiah Museum, the first African American-founded museum in Savannah. The Kiahs were pioneers in the black cultural and museum movement, and the museum was free to visitors from the historic Cuyler-Brownville Neighborhood as well as national and international civil rights activists and artists. It served as the youth headquarters for the National Conference of Artists and hosted the International Students Art Show, a traveling exhibition of student art from 20 states, including Hawaii, and 12 foreign countries, including Ghana. Virginia Kiah began her collection in the 1930s, and it included her world-recognized portraits, antique furniture, the artwork of local youth and adults, fossils, animals, exotic plants, African carvings, and Native American artifacts. In 1974, the Kiah Museum was listed in Readers' Digest Treasures of America. The museum closed to the public in 2001 upon the death of its founder, portrait artist and educator Virginia Jackson Kiah.
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Savannah, Georgia · United States
