Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection

Smith Callway Banks was a native of Statesboro and has many loves in his life – one of which is collecting folk art. Banks began curating his collection in the 1980′s when he bought his first face jug. He has continued to add to his extensive compilation ever since. The Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection has grown to well over one thousand pieces of art. This collection pays tribute to the creative spirits who have enriched Banks’ native state of Georgia, but the entire southern United States as well. Artists in the collection hail from the Carolinas, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Tennessee and Texas. The Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art is honored to house the collection, knowing students, faculty and the community will be inspired to research folk art as an integral part of southern history. Through his generous donation, Banks is elated that the public will have an opportunity to enjoy his “uglies and whimsies” as much as he.