Collection of Regional Artists
About the Collection
The Collection of Regional Artists is comprised of original works by prominent southeastern artists. In addition to her bequest of travel antiquities, Maud Gatewood gifted Elon with 18 original works including five canvases, 12 works on paper, and a ceramic piece. Gatewood, who occasionally is categorized as a “Southern” painter, defied that categorization noting that “I don’t think in those terms. I tend to think of me as me. I just paint what I see and know.” Also included in the Collection of Regional Artists is a work by North Carolina educator and artist George Bireline. Bireline, an artist of national prominence, is best remembered for his “color-field” paintings although he experimented with numerous styles over the years.
The most recent addition to the collection is a series of works by Elon photographer John T. Giancotti. Giancotti, whose work seeks to “convey the purity and innocence of life,” donated 32 original works, Kodachrome photographs from his travels to Africa, Asia and the Middle-East, to Elon University in 2010.