Georgia Fine Arts Academy

promoting the arts and humanities in Georgia since 1980

History

The Georgia Fine Arts Academy (GFAA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational institution, was founded in 1980 "to encourage and stimulate the development of the arts and humanities in Georgia." Since its first Talent Identification Project in 1981, hundreds of high school students have attended its summer educational programs at the Daffodil Farm in north Georgia. In the 1990s, the GFAA began providing programs in the arts to enrich the lives of inner city youth in Altanta, and for emotionally and behaviorally challenged students in the public schools' North Georgia Educational Program. By the end of the 1990s, more than 1,000 students had participated in and benefited from GFAA programs. Graduates of the program went on to study at art schools around the country including Parsons School of Design in New York, Art Institute of Chicago, Atlanta College of Art, Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, the Georgia Tech College of Architecture, and the Ernest G. Welch School of Art at Georgia State University.

Student art - Daffodil Farm by Jeff Hyde

GFAA Now

The GFAA now operates The Art Spot Gallery at the Peachtree Branch of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library in Atlanta. In Athens, it has been operating its Top of the Stairs Gallery and Heritage Gallery at the Athens-Clarke County Library, which is now undergoing renovation. The GFAA new gallery space will be announced when the Athens-Clarke County Library renovation is complete. These galleries feature exhibitions of artists, photographers and programs of filmmakers from Georgia and throughout the country.