Savannah Sights: Arts

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• Savannah College of Art & Design, www.scad.edu. SCAD was founded in 1978 by Paula S. Wallace, Richard Rowan, May Poetter and Paul Poetter — is an independent, accredited and nonprofit school dedicated to the visual and performing arts, design, the building arts and the history of art and architecture. SCAD enrolls close to 7,000 students from all 50 states and nearly 80 countries.

• Lucas Theatre, lucastheatre.com. SCAD uses it for a number of events including the Savannah Film Festival. The college’s support also allows for a wide range of community uses: the Lucas has presented top-line entertainment including opera from London and Italy, European orchestras, country stars, traveling repertory companies and film series. These events bring in an average of more than 1,000 people per week.

• Telfair Museum, www.telfair.org. The Telfair Museum of Art traces its history from 1886 when the Telfair family home opened to the public as an art museum and school. Now comprised of three buildings: the original Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences building, a National Historic Landmark; the Owens-Thomas House, also a National Historic Landmark; and the recently completed Jepson Center for the Arts.

Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie, the 64,000-sq. ft. Jepson Center for the Arts is a state-of-the-art museum facility, featuring expanded gallery spaces, expanded educational resources, much-needed art storage facilities, sculpture gardens, an auditorium, café and museum store.

Over the years the Telfair has become an invaluable confluence of arts, culture and history that reaches out to its audience through a diverse schedule of exhibitions and programs. Currently among the city's most-visited attractions, the museum is even more popular with the 2006 opening of its third venue, the Jepson Center for the Arts.

• Savannah Film Festival, www.scad.edu/filmfest/about.cfm. Held in late October/early November. The festival features more than 50 films, selected from more than 600 entries in the categories of feature, short, animation, documentary and student competition, which are submitted from all over the world. The featured screenings represent a variety of independent filmmakers, while a cross section of workshops, lectures, receptions and special events gives the festival participants an opportunity to meet colleagues active in all areas of film production.

• Savannah Music Festival, www.savannahmusicfestival.org. "Southern, Soulful and Sophisticated." The Festival's distinctive line-up showcases indigenous music from the Deep South, originally conceived chamber music, and a wealth of internationally renowned musicians representing an abundance of musical styles and genres.

• Savannah Tour of Homes, www.savannahtourofhomes.org. This annual spring event offers self-guided walking tours through private homes and gardens in Savannah's National Landmark Historic District.

• Sidewalk Arts Festival, www.scad.edu. Held in the Spring. The sidewalks of Savannah's charming Forsyth Park come to life with remarkable original artwork and live music. This event is free and open to the public. The Sidewalk Arts Festival draws thousands of visitors to view temporary chalk masterpieces created on the sidewalks of the historic park.

• St. Patrick's Day, www.savannahga.gov/cityweb/stpat/index.html. Held on March 17th, this is considered by many to be the second largest party in the country. The almost 4 hour parade winds through the beautiful historic district where families are picnicing in the squares, and the azaleas are in full bloom. "College antics" are usually regulated to River Street later that evening, making the day very much family friendly, and loads of kitchy fun.