Third Thursday events and exhibitions for July 16
The next Third Thursday — the monthly evening of art in Athens, Georgia — is scheduled for Thursday, July 16. All exhibitions are free and open to the public. This schedule and each venue’s location and hours of operation are available at 3thurs.org.
Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 6 – 9 p.m. 90 Carlton Street
Yoga in the Galleries, 6 p.m. — This free yoga class surrounded by works of art in the galleries is led by instructors from Yoga and Pilates for the People and open to both beginner and experienced yogis. Sanitized mats are provided. Space is limited and spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis; tickets are available at the front desk starting at 5:15 p.m.
On view:
“Looking Through a Sewn Sky: Rachel Hayes” — A colorful textile installation in the sculpture garden.
Permanent collection — A wide range of the museum’s permanent collection is always on view, featuring painting, sculpture, works on paper and decorative arts from the Renaissance to the present.
The museum’s days of operation are Tuesday – Sunday. Reserve a free ticket and see our policies at https://georgiamuseum.org/visit/.
Lyndon House Arts Center, 5 – 8 p.m. 211 Hoyt Street Summer series opening reception, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
On view:
“It Came to Me in a Dream by Valton Murray” — Murray is a self‑taught artist from Mesena, Georgia, whose vibrant paintings draw on early memories of sketching in the dirt outside his childhood home. Despite challenges with epilepsy and polio, he built a lifelong practice that has earned both statewide and national recognition. Known for his brightly colored, memory‑based scenes of family life and the rural South, Murray now moves into more abstract territory, creating dreamlike landscapes filled with imagined structures and intuitive, otherworldly forms.
“Interwoven by Jennifer Heynen” — Heynen’s work radiates warmth and energy. The loose, free-form weaving of her sculptures echoes the playful, exploratory brushstrokes of her paintings. Inspired by the coast, her paintings seem to embody the sun’s glow, while her sculptures evoke an accumulation reminiscent of the beach — where wind and tides deposit debris into the nooks and crannies of driftwood and tidal pools.
“Pet Portraits” — This community-wide exhibition features 169 works of art celebrating the pets we love. From 87 dogs and 58 cats to horses, birds, fish, bunnies, goats, reptiles, a coyote and even a piglet, it showcases the creativity and affection our community has for its animal companions. Please consider supporting our Pet Supply Drive benefiting the Athens-Clarke County Animal Services Shelter. We are collecting unopened cat and dog food, treats, toys, towels and other pet supplies.
“Speaking in Tongues” — This exhibition brings together a diverse group of artists who use language in their work. Ranging from complete sentences in English to rudimentary shapes, the works illustrate how language becomes form and form becomes language while the viewer shifts between reading the work and gazing upon it.
“Excursions in Ukraine by Stephen Humphreys” — Humphreys has taken photographs on multiple trips to the war‑torn country over the past four years, revealing a nation that is simultaneously exhausted, damaged and steadfast. His images document the stark realities of war — shattered bridges, mangled vehicles, homes torn apart — alongside scenes of ordinary life that persist despite it.
“Son of a Griff by Rial Rye” — Rye’s work is boisterous and loud, soaked in riotous saturated colors and littered with children’s toys caught in unknown acts of violence. A self-taught Black and Indigenous American artist, Rye explores the physical and psychological boxes that constitute the American racial caste system, ranging from the ubiquitous racial identity checkboxes on forms to the lasting impact of redlined neighborhoods.
“Bee City of Now” — Swannatopia and Experimental Art Club present a 24-foot-long model community for bees, drawing inspiration from utopian experiments attempted and imagined, honeybee architecture and communication, theme parks and cooperative and adaptive behaviors observed across life forms (no live bees are involved in this project).
“Somethings by Ivy Laurel Anderson” — Anderson creates sculptural assemblages from discarded, mass-produced objects — faucet knobs, drawer pulls, trophies and toys — collected from thrift stores and secondhand spaces. These fragments of everyday life, caught between function and obsolescence, are reconfigured into tangled armatures and encased in machine-knitted elastic membranes.
ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art
ATHICA@675 Pulaski St., Suite 1200, 6 – 8 p.m.
Closed this Third Thursday
ATHICA@CINÉ Gallery, 234 West Hancock Avenue, 6 – 9 p.m.
“Piecemeal: Brian George” — George takes images from discarded books and digital archives to undermine the clear narratives and stable images they hold. The resulting artworks become quiet monuments to not knowing and embrace their status as objects holding data that does not need resolution.
tiny ATH gallery, 6 – 9 p.m. 174 Cleveland Avenue
“cecilia reynolds: rivers, roots and bones”
Habibi Art, 6 – 9 p.m. Chase Park Warehouse Unit 4, Suite 10
Open studio.
The Athenaeum 287 West Broad Street
Closed until August Third Thursday.
ACE/FRANCISCO Gallery 675 Pulaski Street, Suite 1500
Closed for this Third Thursday
The Classic Center, 5 – 8 p.m. 300 Thomas Street, Athens, GA 30601
“17 Days in 1996, My Athens-Area Olympic Retrospective” by Wingate Downs —
Third Thursday was established in 2012 to encourage attendance at Athens’ established art venues through coordination and co-promotion by the organizing entities.
Contact: Michael Lachowski, Georgia Museum of Art, [email protected].















