About JAF . Us
JAF carries on the work of the late art patron, Judith Alexander, supporting Georgia artists and the legacy of the extraordinary artist Nellie Mae Rowe.
Henry Alexander, brother of Judith Alexander, founded our small foundation in 2005 in memory of one of Atlanta’s premier patrons of the arts. We came together, as Judith’s friends and family, having been inspired by her uniqueness, with a dedication to keeping the spark of her spirit alive in the world.
Our heartfelt desire is to inspire and engage our community by promoting and supporting Georgia artists and arts organizations and to aid in extending the understanding of the importance of art in our society to future generations.
No other person made as large an impact on the Atlanta art community as did Judith. She founded one of Atlanta's first contemporary art galleries and introduced locals to abstract expressionism. She opened the city's first folk art gallery in 1978 and brought obscure, though highly talented, Georgia artists to national acclaim.
“Her whole life was dedicated to art and to artists – particularly from Georgia,” said Barbara Archer, owner of the Barbara Archer Gallery and a longtime associate of Judith. “They were closest to her heart, and she literally spent every breathing moment involved in art in one way or another.”
The Judith Alexander Gallery became a gathering place and focal point for Atlanta artists, according to Judith Anderson, a New York City attorney and long-time friend. Artists would frequently drop by to show Judith their work.
“She would encourage and talk with them about their work and ask how their personal lives were going,” said Anderson. “She saw the whole artist, not just their work.”
She supported struggling local artists through buying their art, putting on shows of their work and introducing them to museum curators and others who could help their careers.
While Judith was supportive in myriad ways to many artists, her primary focus in later years was on the artist Nellie Mae Rowe. Judith insured a lasting legacy with her major gift of 130 pieces of Nellie Mae Rowe's work to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and through the establishment of a rotating gallery display there for a minimum of a quarter century. We are devoted to sustaining that legacy.
Judith has left us hopefully for Paris.
2005 © Benjamin Jones
“She was not only interested in the art, she was interested in the artist,” said the late Helen Alexander, original chair of JAF. “She helped pay for various needs that would spring up in the lives of these people she so admired. When she died, everybody thought she had been their own particular saint. Now we are trying to carry on her work in supporting art and the artists.”
Judith first saw the work of self-taught artist Nellie Mae Rowe at the 1976 Atlanta History Center exhibition called “Missing Pieces: Georgia Folk Art 1770–1976.” She not only became a tireless patron of Rowe’s work but also staged exhibitions on folk art at the Alexander Gallery long before the Corcoran Gallery’s landmark exhibition “Black Folk Art in America, 1930-1980” ignited interest in the form.
“She gave [Rowe] art materials and took her work to museums and galleries and really got her started,” said Helen Alexander. “She also ensured that Nellie Mae and her family received proceeds from the sale of her work."
Thanks in large part to Judith’s vigorous promotion, Rowe’s work was the focus of a one-woman show at New York City’s prestigious American Museum of Folk Art in 1998, and today her works command prices of $20,000 or more. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and other institutions across the country have acquired some of Nellie Mae Rowe’s work as well.
Memorial for Judith at Crestlawn Cemetery, Atlanta, 2006, created by artist
and friend, Mario Petrirena
A benefactor of Atlanta’s High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Judith gave some 160 works of art to its collection. Before her death, she contributed 130 pieces of Rowe’s work to the museum. The gift, which included archival materials, made the High the definitive collection of Rowe’s work. In addition, Judith donated art by several other artists, mostly Georgian, to New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art. the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, and a variety of other museums.
JAF continues to ensure that the legacy of Nellie Mae Rowe is preserved through the High collection. It also provided funding for a feature-length documentary film devoted to the life of Nellie Mae Rowe, including her relationship with Judith Alexander. Its World Premier was at SXSW Film Festival in March,2023 where it was met with critical acclaim.
Au Revoir, A Bientôt, See You Later . 2005
© Benjamin Jones