"The World Between Word and Image: Artists’ Books and Archives from Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, and Nexus Press" presents archival material from the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, and Nexus Press collection held by the Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. It features approximately 15 artists’ books displayed at a time in three cases. A fresh crop of books focusing on new themes will be rotated in every three months. A fourth case will feature archival material from records of the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, the parent organization of Nexus Press.

At this time, the three thematic cases are as follows:

1. "What Is a Book?" 
2. "History, Memory, and the Reinterpretation of Tradition"
3. "Photography" 

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

"A colorful cast of characters shaped post-World War II American literature and culture."

The exhibition reconsiders postwar literature and the ways it mirrored, predicted, and remade the culture around it, with special focus on the influential group known as “the Beats.” Pulling from the Rose Library’s rich literary collections, especially the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, the show rediscovers a number of fascinating countercultural writers and will be the first major consideration of the Beats in the U.S. in nearly a decade.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

"This exhibition reflects on this dynamic couple's commitment to speak truth to power and explores the meaning and purpose of African American art." 

As artists, activists, and collectors, Billops and Hatch have been raising hell for more than 50 years - elevating public consciousness around "isms" that have shaped American culture, politics, and identities. Since 2002 the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library has been home to the comprehensive collection - playscripts, photographs, works of art, and more - of these two leading stewards of African American history.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

Join us and help bring to life a treasure trove of materials that illuminates the African American experience from the late 19th century to the present.

Ensure the Billops-Hatch collection continues to influence, inspire, and empower. Become a sponsor today at emorylib.info/support-billops-hatch or contact Alex Wan at alex.wan@emory.edu or 404.727.5386

"See a variety of artists' books, from miniatures to books created through the Phillips State Prison Book Project."

Artists’ books are artworks that purposefully make use of, question, or explore the form of the book as an artistic medium. These pieces are usually made in small, limited editions or as unique works of art.

What you will see in this exhibition are examples of a bookmaking tradition that has been active for over 500 years. Like the First Folio, these artists’ books are not just repositories of stories and information, but are also exquisite and beautiful works of art.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

Artists’ Books Showcase website

Panel Discussion

This exhibit is meant to give researchers and curious students alike a peak inside the collections of 9 African American women intellectuals, that are held in the Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. Amber L. Moore, the curator and a project archivist in Rose, has selected items from each of the 9 collections to present.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

"... punk's harsh sounds and in-your-face style influenced fashion, art, film, and writing ..."

"Punk’s Not Dead" tracks punk influence beyond music as it travels into written, visual, and material culture. Highlighting objects from the Rose Library’s punk collections as well as writing by Emory students, this exhibit invites you to consider how community and art shape one another.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

"These collections help reflect the primacy of nature in Shakespearean drama, where characters consistently encounter flowers, vegetables, potions, and poisons that influence their fates."

Emory’s Herbarium and Dr. Harry Rusche’s collection of Shakespearean-themed postcards help us illustrate the plants mentioned in the First Folio.  The Herbarium was established in 1949 to document and monitor plants used in research, medicine, and other significant endeavors.  These collections help reflect the primacy of nature in Shakespearean drama, where characters consistently encounter flowers, vegetables, potions, and poisons that influence their fates.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

"In a word, her work is indispensable."

One of the most acclaimed playwrights, Cleage produces works that celebrate the joy of being free. At the same time, she is committed to telling stories related to African Americans, and the complex issues surrounding racism, classism, and sexism.

Through her work, she explores the lives of African American women and how self-love and self-forgiveness are essential to the development of a healthy existence.

Few writers are able to make a sustained impact on the world during the period in which they live. Cleage has achieved this and more. In a word, her work is indispensable.

To celebrate and reflect on a life filled with tremendous courage, resilience, and brilliance, Emory University’s Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library and the Alliance Theatre have collaborated to bring the Pearl Cleage: A Time for Reflection exhibition to the Woodruff Arts Center.

Weekdays  
(Monday - Friday before 5 PM)

First 30 Minutes: Free 
First 4 Hours: $12
After 4 Hours: $17
High Museum of Art Members (during Museum hours): $8

Nights & Weekends
(Monday - Friday after 5 PM)  Saturday & Sunday
Flat Rate: $16

Valet (when available): $26

Prepaid
Prepaid Parking: $20
Prepaid Valet (when available): $26
Subscriber Prepaid: $15

"I never knew what I was doing. I just knew I had to do it. I wanted people to look their best and relay what was going on in the room." - Jon Arge

One way to understand a city is through the lives of its residents, the lives of locals like Jon Arge and Alli Royce Soble. These Atlanta artists and photographers carried their cameras everywhere they went. Day after day, week after week, month after month, they photographed their friends, family, places, events, and happenings. Over time these photos took on additional significance and weight; they became documentation of communities in Queer Atlanta. These collections illustrate how the Rose Library’s holdings can reflect your life, your friends, your family, and your community.

View the "Our Archives Could Be Your Life" online exhibit!

"Explore the meanings associated with Shakespeare's provocative representation of race and racism."

One of Shakespeare's most important works, Othello provides commentary on the “rise of colonialism and imperialism,” as well as the ongoing struggle to define the qualities related to quintessential manhood and masculinity.

Through the archival materials found in the Stuart A. Rose Library, this exhibition will explore the development of the play as a vehicle for African American actors such as Ira Aldridge, Paul Robeson, and Laurence Fishburne to claim the role of the “Black Moor” from white men in black face. Through the exhibition and programming, we will explore the complexity of being a black man in a white world, and the meanings associated with Shakespeare's provocative representation of race and racism.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free