On Tuesday the High Museum of Art in Atlanta announced that it has received almost $4 million dollars in four separate donations to bolster its photography programming. The largest portion, $2 million, comes from former Coca-Cola president and COO Donald Keough and his family, and will go toward photo acquisitions, photo programming, and endowing the High’s photography curator position, currently held by Brett Abbott. Paul Hagedron kicked in $500,000 to support photography acquisitions, while the Yellowless family provided $400,000 to support the acquisition of specifically Southern photography, and an undisclosed sum came from photographer Lucinda W. Bunnen to establish the institution’s first devoted photography space.
“To have so many leaders in our community come together simultaneously to support the important work that we’ve been doing is immensely gratifying,” Abbott, whose full title is now the Donald and Marilyn Keough Family Curator of Photography, said in a statement. “I’m excited by the opportunities these gifts present to take our collection to new heights and to expand our holdings in key areas, especially related to the work of Southern photographers.”