At the next WUGA’s Artists in Residence event, travel almost to Commerce’s historic district to meet the  extraordinary painter Abner Cope in his home. 

Cope teaches portrait painting at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation and has mentored local artists such as Broderick Flanigan, a past Artist in Residence. Cope taught painting and drawing for 30 years at Central State University in Ohio before retiring to his home state of Georgia.

His work has won awards from the Portrait Society of Atlanta; the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago; the African American Visual Artists Guild in Dayton, Ohio; OCAF (where he won a Best of Show designation); and many other fine institutions. The magazine "International Artist" profiled Mr. Cope in 2015, and the Quinlan Art Center in Gainesville, Georgia, recently showcased his work.