Meetings are on the third Sunday of each month, from September through May, at the Springhill Presbyterian Church. The meeting includes an artist talk to provide instruction, critique and/or "hands on" opportunities to help artists further develop their knowledge and skills. MAA provides a variety of venues to allow members to show their work, including a Spring Member Show, a Fall OPEN Juried Show and opportunities to show work at local businesses.
History of MAA
Mobile Art Association was first organized on February 24th, 1943 and incorporated on April 12th, 1948 by several local artists including Edmund DeCelle and William Bush. In its early years, MAA exhibited at the Mobile Public Library or in the Customs House in downtown Mobile. In 1947, The Emma Langdon Roche Gallery was establised as MAA's Art Gallery. This gallery saw exhibits such as the Exhibit of Scalamandre Tapestries and the showing of 16th and 17th century drawings from the Estelle Higgs Sims estate, exhibits of paintings from Mid-Town Galleries in New York City, along with featuring local artists. In 1965 MAA and WKRG-TV co-sponsored the first Outdoor Art Show. Paintings were hung on the fence that bordered Bienville Square.
In 1955, Mobile Art Association formed a planning committee for a permanent exhibiting gallery. In 1957, the Mobile Art Association, Allied Arts Council and the Art Patrons League inaugurated the original proposal to the City of Mobile for the original Mobile Art Gallery, now named Mobile Museum of Art. In 1957, MAA began a fundraising project to construct the original building. In 1963, MAA donated $30,000 to the building fund of the Art Gallery to the City of Mobile. The City of Mobile funded the remainder. The Mobile Art Gallery opened on October 31, 1964.
Mobile Art Association
