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Ann Orr Morris

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Ann Orr Morris (August 5, 1924 – August 15, 1987) was an American silversmith, goldsmith, and enamelist. She died in her hometown of Athens, Georgia, the victim of a triple homicide.

Life and work

Ann Montgomery Orr was born August 5, 1924 in Athens, Georgia, to Robert Craig Orr and Sally Wylly Treanor.[1] Her family had lived in the area for several generations. After graduating from the University of Georgia, Morris studied the art of metalwork in New York and in Europe.[2] Margaret de Patta, Philip Morton, and Adda Husted-Andersen all influenced Orr Morris's style. She served a four-year apprenticeship under Husted-Andersen and the two spent an additional brief time working together at the David-Andersen Factory in Oslo, Norway.[3][4]

Though best known for her metal jewelry creations, Orr Morris was also a skilled watercolorist.[5] Describing Orr Morris's work, University of Georgia professor and metalworker Rob Jackson said, "One was, at first, struck, by the apparent simplicity of the objects. Deeply rooted in the 1950's search for form, there is almost a sense of innocence in the work."[4]

In 1957, Orr Morris attended a writer's workshop at the University of Georgia led by writer Flannery O'Connor. Her recollections of O'Connor were featured in a 1991 article in Athens Magazine.[6]

Nashville-born crafter of gold and silver jewelry and maker of sterling silver holloware, Conn Harris West, studied with Orr Morris.[7] Silversmith Charles Rowland was also her student.[8]

Death and legacy

On August 15, 1987, at age 63, Orr Morris was attacked with a hatchet by Clinton Bankston Jr., a 16-year-old Athens resident who had killed two other retired UGA professors during a burglary four months earlier, in April 1987. The murder happened in the home of Ann's sister, Sally Nathanson, in the Carr's Hill neighborhood. Nathanson, and her 22-year-old adopted daughter, Helen, were also murdered.[9][10] The women were found after Morris's husband reported her missing.[2]

Orr Morris is buried in Athens' Oconee Hill Cemetery.[1]

From September 24 to November 13, 1994, the Georgia Museum of Art held a posthumous exhibit honoring Orr Morris. The museum produced a 69-page catalog, entitled Ann Orr: Silversmith, Goldsmith, & Enamelist, to accompany the exhibition.[11] Orr Morris's close friend, watercolorist Martha Odum (wife of ecologist Eugene Odum) traveled the Southeast to collect jewelry for inclusion in the exhibit. Odum also oversaw the photography of the pieces for the exhibition catalog.[12] Former UGA professor and metalsmith Gary Noffke also served as one of the editors of this catalog.

The Ann Orr Morris Memorial Fund provides funds to bring visiting artists to UGA's Lamar Dodd School of Art to deliver lectures and workshops on jewelry-making and metalwork.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Ann Montgomery Orr Morris (1924-1987) - Find A..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  2. ^ a b Sharp, Tom (August 20, 1987). "Murder Charges against High School Dropout Shock Friends". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2020-11-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Jackson, Rob. "Metalsmith '95 Spring: Exhibition Reviews: Ann Orr: Silversmith, Goldsmith, and Enamelist". Ganoksin. Retrieved 2020-11-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b Jackson, R. (1995). Ann Orr: Silversmith, Goldsmith, and Enamelist. METALSMITH, 2, 51.
  5. ^ Shearer, Lee. "Four exhibitions show past, present, future of the Athens Art Association". Athens Banner-Herald. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  6. ^ Streight, I. (Ed.). (2002). Flannery O'Connor: An Annotated Reference Guide to Criticism. Timberlane Books.
  7. ^ "American Modernist Jewelers & Silversmiths X - Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks". www.925-1000.com. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  8. ^ "GMOA FY10 Annual Report". Issuu. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  9. ^ Johnson, Joe (2020-01-30). "Georgia Supreme Court upholds conviction of man who slaughtered 5 Athens residents when a teen". Classic City News. Retrieved 2020-11-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Ap (1987-08-18). "Youth, 16, Is Charged In 5 Georgia Murders (Published 1987)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  11. ^ "Ann Orr : silversmith, goldsmith, & enamelist / Lane Coulter, Virginia Lancaster Shields ; foreword, William U. Eiland ; introduction, Gary Noffke". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  12. ^ Craige, B. J. (2002). Eugene Odum: Ecosystem ecologist and environmentalist. University of Georgia Press.
  13. ^ "Jewelry and Metalwork | LAMAR DODD SCHOOL OF ART". art.uga.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
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