Saguaro
10-31-2007, 02:56 PM
ATHENS, Ga. -- Alabama artist Myrtice West says she's slowing down a little and her eyesight's not quite what it used to be.
But, at 84 years old, she's sure she's not dead -- despite recent reports to the contrary.
A painting by West is featured prominently in "Amazing Grace: Self-Taught Artists from the Mullis Collection," an exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens.
But the catalog for the show incorrectly lists West as having died in 2005.
That detail that got picked up in news accounts and had her friends a little confused when she showed up for church on Sunday.
She says one woman whispered to her "They put you in the newspaper, but they said you were dead."
Paul Manoguerra, curator of the exhibit, said he's not sure how the error happened.
He said there may have been confusion because West's husband died in 2005.
He said the Athens museum's staff were updating information about West at the exhibit on Tuesday and planned to insert a note correcting the error in the show's catalog.
West, who started painting in the late '70s after a religious experience during which she says she woke up preaching behind the pulpit of a church she'd never been in before, said she's not upset about the error.
A painting by West is the first thing visitors to the exhibit see. It also was the first piece of so-called "folk art" ever bought by Atlanta attorney Carl Mullis -- whose collection is the source for the show.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14466825/detail.html
But, at 84 years old, she's sure she's not dead -- despite recent reports to the contrary.
A painting by West is featured prominently in "Amazing Grace: Self-Taught Artists from the Mullis Collection," an exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens.
But the catalog for the show incorrectly lists West as having died in 2005.
That detail that got picked up in news accounts and had her friends a little confused when she showed up for church on Sunday.
She says one woman whispered to her "They put you in the newspaper, but they said you were dead."
Paul Manoguerra, curator of the exhibit, said he's not sure how the error happened.
He said there may have been confusion because West's husband died in 2005.
He said the Athens museum's staff were updating information about West at the exhibit on Tuesday and planned to insert a note correcting the error in the show's catalog.
West, who started painting in the late '70s after a religious experience during which she says she woke up preaching behind the pulpit of a church she'd never been in before, said she's not upset about the error.
A painting by West is the first thing visitors to the exhibit see. It also was the first piece of so-called "folk art" ever bought by Atlanta attorney Carl Mullis -- whose collection is the source for the show.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14466825/detail.html