MOCA GA Announces Two Awards for Co-Founder/President/CEO, Annette Cone-Skelton, and MOCA GA Picked as Best Museum of Atlanta by Creative Loafing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) November 2, 2011 -- The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) is pleased to announce that its Co-founder/President/CEO, Annette Cone-Skelton, has received two professional awards in 2011. In April, 2011, Cone-Skelton was announced as the winner of The Fulton County Arts Council (FCAC) Artist Award, “Inspiring The Passion Within Us.” In October, 2011, she received the Museum Educator of the Year Award for 2012 from the Georgia Art Education Association (GAEA). Additionally, MOCA GA is Creative Loafing’s Staff Pick for Best Museum of Atlanta.

ABOUT ANNETTE CONE-SKELTON:

Annette Cone-Skelton is the Co-founder/President/CEO of The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA). Cone-Skelton has over thirty years of experience as an exhibiting artist, fine arts instructor, curator, editor and owner of a fine arts advisory firm. She holds a B.F.A. from the Atlanta College of Art, and was recognized as LaGrange College’s “2006-2007 Outstanding Alumni.” Under Cone-Skelton’s leadership, MOCA GA was successfully relocated to a larger facility, and programs such as the Teacher Workshops, ArtMERGE, the Working Artist Project, Café MOCA and the permanent collection have continued to grow, receiving acclaim throughout the community. Prior to co-founding MOCA GA, Cone-Skelton owned and operated her own advisory firm, was the director of one of the south’s most prestigious galleries and she served as an editor of a scholarly arts publication. Cone-Skelton’s work was recently exhibited in the High Museum of Art’s permanent collection exhibition. She was a finalist for the Whitney Biennial 2000. Cone-Skelton’s work was featured in the 2003 edition of New American Painting, and in 1998 she was awarded Creative Loafing’s “Critic’s Choice for Best Visual Artist in Atlanta.” Her work is held in several museum collections, including the High Museum of Art, the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University and MOCA GA, all three in Atlanta, Georgia; the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; the J.B. Speed Museum, Louisville, Kentucky; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland; the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama and; the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Numerous corporations, institutions and private collectors have also acquired Cone-Skelton’s work, including King and Spalding, Alston & Bird, Kilpatrick Stockton, Bell South and AT&T. She has served on the boards of the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts and Culture Coalition (MAACC), Atlanta College of Art, Art Papers, The Contemporary, the Contemporary Art Society of the High Museum of Art, the Hambidge Center, and on the Leadership Cabinet of Arts Leadership League of Georgia (ALL-GA). Currently Cone-Skelton serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Forum of Georgia.

ABOUT GEORGIA ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (GAEA):

The Georgia Art Education Association’s membership includes elementary, secondary and college level art educators in public and private schools, as well as museums. GAEA promotes and maintains the highest possible degree of quality instruction in visual arts programs throughout the state of Georgia. The Museum Educator of the Year award recognizes one outstanding GAEA member for exemplary contributions, service and achievement at the state level. The award was presented on October 21, 2011, at the association’s annual convention.

ABOUT FULTON COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL (FCAC):

The Fulton County Arts Council serves Fulton County, Georgia citizens by supporting, developing and implementing arts and culture programming. The department provides funding to contract arts organizations; manages Fulton County’s Public Art Program; conducts job readiness and life skills training through its Art at Work program; and provides arts instruction for children, teens and adults as well as over 100 annual cultural events through its five neighborhood Arts Centers. FCAC also organizes master classes, workshops and other training for artists and arts organizations and operates several galleries and performance venues.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART OF GEORGIA (MOCA GA):

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) collects and archives significant, contemporary works by the artists of the state of Georgia. To place its artists in a global context, the Museum's exhibitions include Georgia artists and artists from around the world. MOCA GA’s programs promote the visual arts by creating a forum for active interchange between artists and the community. MOCA GA is located at 75 Bennett Street in the TULA Art Center. Admission is free to members, $5 for non-members and $1 for students. The hours of the museum are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. For more information, call 404-367-8700, visit www.mocaga.org or email info@mocaga.org.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE LOAFING STAFF PICK “BEST MUSEUM IN ATLANTA”:

The write-up, located online at clatl.com/atlanta/best-museum/BestOf?oid=3986660, states that The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia has established itself as a “home for risky, exciting work and consistent curatorial focus. MOCA GA’s vital archiving program is building an expansive library of groundbreaking Georgia-based artists. But the Working Artist Project, which commissions work from artists such as monumental painter Xie Caomin and stylish filmmaker Micah Stansell, is the institution’s crown jewel.” Creative Loafing is a weekly newspaper nationally recognized for its coverage of local news, culture, contemporary music and the arts.

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