After months of planning by her colleagues in the Department of Art at Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA, a “Day of Celebration in Memory of Dr. Tina Yarborough” was held on Monday, October 24^th.  Dr. Tina Yarborough, a native of Edgefield, SC, died in May 2016 and was buried in Edgefield’s St. Mary’s Catholic cemetery.  After earning her PhD, Dr. Yarborough was a professor at Georgia College for 20 years (1996-2016).   Georgia College’s celebration began with the dedication, in Tina’s memory, of a park bench and the planting of a tree in front of Ennis Hall, which is the recently renovated building that houses the Department of Art.  An exhibition of art in Ennis Hall included a large garland of clay beads, made by local community members in honor of Tina as a collaborative effort of healing.

The art exhibition in Ennis Hall also included a display of memorabilia related to Tina’s dissertation on the artist Edvard Munch, who is most widely known as the artist of the painting known as The Scream.  Dr. Tina Yarborough received her Doctorate of Philosophy in Art History from the University of Chicago in 1995.  Her dissertation was “Exhibition Strategies and Wartime Politics in the Art and Career of Edvard Munch, 1914-1921.”

The Day of Celebration continued with a program of presentations by international scholars of Edvard Munch who had traveled to Georgia College for the celebration.  Speakers from Massachusetts and Toronto, Canada explained how Tina and her research had influenced their lives.  Dr. Rheinhold Heller, Professor Emeritus of Art History and Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago, described how, as Tina’s mentor in the 1990’s, he had been inspired by her and had become her life-long friend. The presentations were held in the auditorium of Georgia College and were attended by a large group of Dr. Tina Yarborough’s friends, family, students, and colleagues.  Following the presentations, a reception was held in the college’s Magnolia Ballroom.

Photo  1Exhibit in Georgia College’s Ennis Hall of memorabilia of Dr. Tina Yarborough and her dissertation on Edvard Munch. (Herbert Yarborough, Tina’s brother, is in the foreground.)