In the early 1930s, the grand home that had witnessed Augusta’s history from its corner seat on Telfair Street had fallen into disrepair when it came to the attention of the Historic American Buildings Survey as one of the finest examples of early 19th-century architecture. Ware’s Folly was photographed and documented in 1936 by the Georgia Institute of Technology and recorded as the Ware-Gardner-Sibley-Clark house. Despite its listing on the National Registry of Historic Places, it was slated for demolition when Olivia Antoinette (Mrs. John) Herbert, a winter colonist from New York, saved the neglected property when she purchased it for $4,000 – a paltry one-tenth of its original cost.
In early January 1937, Mrs. Herbert generously gifted the Augusta Art Club with Ware’s Folly, as a living memorial to her late daughter, Gertrude Herbert Dunn. In addition, her gift underwrote the remarkable residence’s complete renovation and established an endowment for The Gertrude Herbert Memorial Institute of Art.
From its inaugural season, the Institute launched itself as a force to be reckoned with. Under the direction of its first director, Horace Talmage Day, it offered works by artists such as foremost portraitist Gilbert Stuart, the painter of six presidents, whose image of George Washington still adorns the one-dollar bill, Rembrandt Peale, Carl Brandt, and Alice Ravenel Huger Smith. In the ensuing years, from John Singer Sargent to Mary Cassatt, to Walt Disney and graffiti artist Brett Cook-Dizney, GHIA’s repertoire has grown to include works by a virtual Who’s Who of renowned artists.
