The High Museum of Art

My visit to the High was, just as always, wonderful. My favorite section, each time, is the Howard Finster corner. I can't help but love his work. I went to Paradise Gardens in Summerville when I was around 10. Each time I look at Finster's work, I am immediately taken back to that hot day full of exploring. The Gardens themselves are beautiful and unique.

Finster said he had his first vision at three years old, when he saw his recently deceased sister Abbie Rose. She walked out of the sky and told him, "Howard, you're gonna be a man of visions." He was born again at a revival at age 13 and began preaching at 16. His work gained national attention when the Athens-based rock group, R.E.M., filmed the music video for their single "Radio Free Europe" in Paradise Gardens in 1983. He was then commissioned to design CD covers for R.E.M. and the Talking Heads.

Howard Finster was responsible for introducing millions to outsider art. Outsider art describes art that is created outside the boundaries of official culture. Even with his fame, he remained focused on religious outreach. He said of the Talking Heads album, "I think there's twenty-six religious verses on that first cover I done for them. They sold a million records in the first two and a half months after it come out, so that's twenty-six million verses I got out into the world in two and a half months!"