Andalusia wins 2024 Special Project Award for from the Georgia Association of Museums

Georgia College & State University’s Department of Historic Museums earned a prestigious state-wide award Friday, Jan. 19, for Andalusia: The Home of Flannery O’Connor.

The Georgia Association of Museums (GAM) presented its 2024 Special Project Award to Georgia College’s Andalusia Interpretive Center—a 5,300 square-foot, $3.5 million building completed in March 2023. The center competed against the largest and most well-funded museums in the state for GAM’s highest-tier Special Project category.

GAM President Marcy Breffle and Award Committee Co-Chairs Melissa Swindell and Karin Dalton presented the award to Matt Davis, director of Historic Museums at Georgia College, and Cassie Munnell, curator at Andalusia.

“The department of Historic Museums is pleased to receive this award,” Davis said. “It is truly gratifying to be recognized by your peers in the industry, and we are honored that our work at the new Andalusia Interpretive Center has been recognized in this way.”

More than 200 museum professionals from across the state convened in Athens for the GAM annual meeting, which started Jan. 17. The theme of the 2024 conference was “Finding the Right Frequency: Museums and Communities in Harmony.” Participants attended a variety of sessions and workshops ranging from developing education programs to designing exhibits.

“We are pleased to present the Special Project Award to a very deserving recipient,” Breffle said. “Our members represent a good cross section of museums and cultural organizations in Georgia’s communities, both large and small.”

During the years Flannery O’Connor lived at Andalusia, she completed two novels and 32 short stories centered around the American Southern gothic genre.

In August 2017, the site was gifted to Georgia College, O’Connor’s alma mater. Today, Andalusia collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits items that illustrate the history of the site in the time period when Flannery O’Connor lived on the property, 1951-1964.

Andalusia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. In 2019, it was also listed as a “Distinctive Destination” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  In 2022, Andalusia was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.

Tours at Andalusia begin at the interpretive center, which houses a permanent exhibit space, climate-controlled collections, storage and curatorial workspaces and guest amenities, such as a gift shop and restrooms. Tours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 to 4 p.m. Sundays.

In photo from left: Andalusia Curator Cassie Munnell, Director of Historic Museums Matt Davis, Executive Director for the School of Continuing & Professional Studies Angela Criscoe, GAM President Marcy Breffle and GAM President-Elect Rebecca Bush.