A self-taught woodcarver of remarkable talent.

The first major traveling exhibition of works by Ulysses Davis in more than 25 years premieres at the High this December. Davis was a barber in Savannah, Georgia, who was also a self-taught woodcarver of remarkable talent. He created a body of highly refined sculpture that expresses his humor, dignity and deep faith. The exhibition offers an opportunity for audiences to appreciate Davis' remarkable work, which is rarely seen outside of Savannah.

The Treasure of Ulysses Davis, which was organized in collaboration with the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation of Savannah, Georgia, will feature approximately 115 works including representative works from every genre in which Davis worked: portraits of U.S. and African leaders, religious images, patriotic works, carvings influenced by African forms, fantasy, flora and fauna, love, humor, abstract decorative objects and utilitarian objects such as canes and furniture. The exhibition will feature Davis's best-known artwork, a series of 40 carved busts of all the U.S. Presidents through George H. W. Bush from the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation collection. Other highlights include a moving depiction of Jesus on the Cross, from the High's permanent collection, and a varied selection of Davis's fantasy work—his Created Beasts and Creatures from another Planet. A range of rarely seen carvings from private collections will also be on view.

Approximately 75 carvings in the exhibition will be lent from the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation, which acquired most of Davis' work after he died, fulfilling his desire to keep his body of work intact. The exhibition will also include 10 works from the High's permanent collection and a selection of pieces owned by other museums and collectors. The title is inspired by Davis's own reflections on why he rarely sold his work: "These things are very dear to me. They're a part of me...They're my treasure. If I sold these, I'd be really poor."