Echoes of the Past, a multi-gallery survey exhibition of African art, and a celebration of the 130th birthday of nature artist Athos Menaboni headline the fall exhibition season at the Albany Museum of Art, which opens with an evening reception on Thursday, Sept 4.

“Echoes of the Past is the first comprehensive survey of African art at the Albany Museum of Art since From African Hands, which was first shown in 1971 when the AMA was still known as the Southwest Georgia Art Association,” Executive Director Andrew James Wulf, Ph.D., said. “Across the Haley, East, and Hodges Galleries, visitors will encounter more than 150 works of art, drawn primarily from our own holdings and enriched by significant loans from the North Carolina Museum of Art, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, and the Savannah African Art Museum.”

The upstairs McCormack Gallery will be devoted this fall to the work of Athos Menaboni (1895-1990). A Legacy Built with Nature: Menaboni at 130 showcases works by the Italian-born American artist renowned for his exquisite depictions of birds, often accompanied by flora from their natural habitats. His murals and illustrations can be found in homes, public buildings, and even on U.S. postage stamps. 

“Time magazine dubbed Menaboni as John J. Audubon’s ‘heir,’” Wulf noted. “He also has a legacy that is deeply rooted in Southwest Georgia. He spent a great deal of time here observing birds and their habitat, especially on Ichauway Plantation in Baker County. He was a close friend of Coca-Cola President Robert Woodruff, who owned the preserve that is now the Jones Center at Ichauway, which is recognized for its research and conservation of the longleaf pine and Coastal Plain.”

The exhibition includes five works from the AMA collection and a dozen Christmas cards on loan from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. The cards, which feature Menaboni artwork, are from a collection of his work on display at the Jones Center.

The third fall exhibition, Framing Time: 20th and 21st Century Photography from the Permanent Collection, will be on display in the West Gallery. “This exhibition unites several influential photographers whose work spans nearly a century,” Wulf said.

Framing Time highlights the evolving language of photographic images, from modernist documentation to surreal portraiture and deeply personal narrative.

The Sept 4 opening reception for the exhibitions begins at 5:30 pm at the AMA, 311 Meadowlark Drive. The event is free for AMA donors at the Reciprocal level or higher. The cost is $10 for Artist Guild donors and $15 for the general public. An online RSVP link can be found at https://www.albanymuseum.com/event/fall-2025-reception/.

Echoes of the Past and A Legacy Built with Nature will be on view through Saturday, Jan 3, 2026. Framing Time will be on view through Saturday, Nov 1, 2025. The AMA is open 10 am-5 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays, and admission is free.

The museum also offers free field trips for schools and organizations. For information on scheduling a field trip, visit https://www.albanymuseum.com/learn/educator-resources/.