Affrilachia in Words and Images  

Photo by Emmai Alaquiva

Marie T. Cochran, artist and director of the Affrilachia Artist Project, was born and raised in Toccoa, GA in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. She received degrees from the University of Georgia (BFA) and the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (MFA). While pursuing her studio degree she was a graduate assistant in the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism and the news editor for F magazine. She received a post-graduate fellowship in museum education from the National Endowment of the Arts. Cochran has been a visiting art faculty member at educational institutions in Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey and North Carolina. Her research interests include visual literacy and ekphrastic encounters. She creates mixed media pieces, which are often grounded in community-based collaboration.

Selected exhibition venues include the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library & Museum, Austin, TX; the former Center for African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC; and the Studio Museum of Harlem, NYC. Her awards include the Georgia Council for the Arts, Individual Artist’s Grant, the Artist as Catalyst Grant from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Council, Baltimore, MD; and the NEA/Southern Arts Federation Fellowship in Sculpture. Cochran is actively involved in arts advocacy through her work as an educator, curator and writer. She has been an artist-in-residence at a wide range of organizations including youth centers and cultural sites. Cochran is the founding director of the Affrilachian Artist Project an intergenerational visual artists collective, which celebrates the diversity of the Appalachian region.

Library Technology Center
North Georgia College & State University
117 Georgia Circle
Dahlonega, GA 30597
Map (click here)
Parking is located behind the library 706-864-1520

Georgia Appalachian Studies Center
Vickery House
24 Vickery Drive
North Georgia College & State University
Dahlonega, GA 30597
Map (Click here)
706-864-1540

The Cannery
Dahlonega Arts Council
61 Enota Street
Dahlonega, GA 30597

Affrilachia in Words and Images, a series supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, continues October 4-31, 2012 in the Library Technology Center of North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, Georgia.  The Affrilachian Artist Project acknowledges the presence and cultural contributions of African Americans in the Appalachian region. The exhibition features an art installation by Marie T. Cochran, Affrilachian Artist Project founder and showcases photographs and historical research by students of North Georgia College & State University and North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville.

Events include:

Friday, Sept 7, 2012 6pm
Reception for visiting artist, Marie T. Cochran, Affrilachian Artist Project founder.
Sponsored by the Dahlonega Arts Council.
The Cannery, 61 Enota St., Dahlonega GA 30597

Friday, September 7 - Friday, September 28, 2012
Open Studio 
With visiting artist, Marie T. Cochran, Affrilachian Artist Project founder and in collaboration with the Dahlonega Arts Council.
The Cannery, 61 Enota St., Dahlonega, GA 30597 

Thursday, October 4 - Wednesday October 31, 2012
Affrilachia in Words and Images Exhibition 
An installation by visiting artist Marie T. Cochran and showcasing the photographs and historical research by the students of North Georgia College & State University and North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville.
Library Technology Center  * North Georgia College & State University 117 Georgia Circle, Dahlonega, GA 30597

Thursday, October 4, 2012 Reception at 6pm and Keynote at 6:30pm
Exhibition Opening & Keynote 
Keynote address “What is Affrilachia?: notes of a native daughter” by Marie T. Cochran, Affrilachian Artist Project founder.
Library Technology Center  * North Georgia College & State University * 117 Georgia Circle, Dahlonega, GA 30597

Saturday, October 6, 2012  Refreshments at 10am and Symposium 11am - 1pm
Affrilachia in Words and Images Symposium
Featuring art historian Amalia Amaki, Ph.D., Audrey Davenport, and Daren J. Waters, Ph.D. 
Special Collections 382 * Library Technology Center  * North Georgia College & State University 117 Georgia Circle, Dahlonega, GA 30597
Reservations recommended. 706-864-1540

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-7pm from October 8-31, 2012 or by appointment.
Regional African American History Display.
Georgia Appalachian Studies Center  * North Georgia College & State University
Vickery House 24 Vickery Drive, Dahlonega GA 30597
Information 706-864-1540

Affrilachian Artist Project Overview provides a timeline of this cultural phenomena and features the group show Affrilachia! Common Ground Where I’m From displayed at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh, PA. The exhibition was on view Nov 2011 - Mar 2012. Narrated by curator, Marie T. Cochran, the mini-documentary includes commentary from selected artists.

The Affrilachia in Words and Images series is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts with additional support provided by the Library technology Center, School of Education, School of Arts & Letters, and the Office of Academic Affairs of North Georgia College & State University.