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Holly Watters

Associate Registrar

hwatters@thejohnsoncollection.org

Holly serves as the Associate Registrar for The Johnson Collection, overseeing the record-keeping of the more than 1,400 objects that comprise TJC. She maintains the physical, digital, and research files as well as regularly updating painting locations, artist bios, and loan locations for TJC’s comprehensive website and its custom database. Having added almost 1,000 records to the Smithsonian’s art research site, Holly has introduced many otherwise unrecognized Southern artists to the American art canon. Joining TJC in 2014, her career has spanned over 30 years, all spent specifically in the field of art of the American South. As a resident of Spartanburg for more than 40 years, Holly and her husband have three grown sons, two lovely daughters-in-law, and dachshunds Maud and Natalie.

Favorite Piece from the Collection

I am fascinated by Augusta Savage’s defiance of racial and cultural conventions in order to learn and to teach, to make and to sell her art, and to forge a path for others. Born in a small town to a poor family, she took advantage of opportunities and was undeterred from setbacks. I have had significant mentors in my life, and I hope I have been a mentor to others, and her tenacity speaks to me. 