Friends of Gene (FOG)

Each spring SCAD-Atlanta holds the Friends of Gene Exhibition to honor the memory of Atlanta artist Gene Allcott. The FOG (or Friends of Gene) is comprised of an elite circle: Gene Allcott Scholarship winners, top fine arts students, New York City field trip participants (also made possible through Gene Allcott scholarship funding), Allcott family members and friends. Each year student artwork is judged and a monetary prize awarded in Gene Allcott’s name to an Outstanding SCAD Artist ($1,000) and Outstanding Alumni ($500).

FOG — ART EXHIBITS

FOG — GENE UP CLOSE

FOG INVITATIONS

Second Desserts… for Art Students

For three summers, Gene chaired an alumni show for the Atlanta College of Art in its new gallery space vacated by the High Museum of Art when it moved into a new building next door. Gene organized the solicitation mailings to alumni, selected jurors, hung the show. As often happens some artists complained whose works were not elected. The complaints did not seem to bother Gene, and when I commented on the abuse he was taking, he said, drawing his words out thoughtfully:  “Well, you know, if you can’t take the heat, you should get out of the kitchen.”

A short time later Gene stopped by my office. “I have a wonderful family,” he announced walking through the door. “We always have second desserts.”

Gene was good at these non-sequiturs loaded with meaning, so I looked up. “After supper,” he continued, “we had dessert and went away to do our homework or other chores and then at the end of the evening, we came back to the kitchen for second desserts. We would get into these big discussions about things — books, current events, art, things we were doing and kind of hash things out.” 

I realized Gene not only could take the heat in the kitchen, but he was telling me he loved it.

— Libby Mohr, former Atlanta College of Art Administrator