The Collectors Circle for Contemporary Art was founded in 1991 to help support the Museum’s contemporary art collection and related exhibitions, as well as to educate its members and the community at large about contemporary art through programs, events, and art-related travel. Throughout the year, the Collectors Circle organizes a variety of events and activities for its members, including tours of contemporary art exhibitions and private collections, as well as gallery talks and lectures by experts in the field. The group maintains a busy travel schedule with frequent trips to regional, national, and international art destinations. At the Collectors Circle’s annual dinner, members vote to acquire a new contemporary work for the Museum, the cost of which is covered by annual membership dues.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP:
$500 per member
$250 per junior member (under 40)

Collector's Circle Birmingham Bus Tour
May 19, 9:00 am-1:00 pm
We will renew this popular Collectors Circle event with a half-day bus tour of visits to artist's studios and private collections in and around Birmingham.  Current Collectors Circle members can get more information and sign up by contacting Susan Powers at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Trip to Crystal Bridges Art Museum
September 21-23, 2012

Join the Friends of American Art and the Collectors Circle for Contemporary Art for a visit to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Founded by Alice Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune, and designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, the museum--which opened to the public last fall--features an outstanding collection of American masterpieces, including Asher B. Durand's Kindred Spirts and Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter.  Crystal Bridges' collection of contemporary art includes major works by such notables as  Jenny Holzer, Claes Oldenberg, Andy Warhol, Kerry James Marshall, among numerous other important American artists.  Participation is strictly limited to 15 members from each support group.  A second Friends of American Art trip to Crystal Bridges is anticipated due to popular demand.  For more information, contact Susan Powers at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 205.254.2567.

20th Anniversary Collectors Circle Dinner and Voting Event
Thursday, October 25, 2012 at the Birmingham Museum of Art

Cocktails with Collectors at the home of Jack and Rebecca Drake
March 22, 2012
The Collectors Circle will join Birmingham collectors Jack and Rebecca Drake at their home. The couple's passion for art encompasses contemporary painting, sculpture, photography and works on paper, as well as contemporary design.

Los Angeles
January 19-22, 2012
A group of Collectors Circles members travelled to Los Angeles with BMA Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Ron Platt and Development Director Kate Cleveland.  The focus of the trip was Pacific Standard Time, for which the region's institutions came together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene.  Among the numerous highlights of the trip were studio visits with artists Larry Bell and Tomory Dodge, and private tours of exhibitions at The Getty Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Santa Monica Museum.

New Orleans
November 10-13, 2011

The Collectors Circle went back to one of America’s most amazing cities for Prospect.2, the second edition of New Orleans’ contemporary art biennial. Prospect.2 brought together the work of 26 local, national and international artists working in a range of artistic media.  Curator of Modern And Contemporary Art Ron Platt led a tour of the Prospect.2 exhibitions at the city’s participating museums and venues, as well as a bus tour of the numerous site–specific art projects inspired by the New Orleans’ distinctive history and culture and conceived specifically for Prospect2.

Contemporary Art Lecture at the BMA: “Art in the Age of AIDS"
December 8, 2011

Since 1989, December 1 has been “World AIDS Day/A Day Without Art” a day when the international arts community pauses to remember and respond to the AIDS crisis and its impact on cultural life.  Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Ron Platt gave a special lecture on the role AIDS has played in the art of our time.

Los Angeles
January 5-8, 2012

This visit to L.A. with Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Ron Platt coincided with “Pacific Standard Time,” a collaboration of more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California coming together for the first time to celebrate the birth of the Los Angeles art scene with special exhibitions and projects.

April 2011

Members of the Museum’s Collectors Circle and Junior Patrons presented a special screening of the Oscar-nominated film WASTE LAND.  Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest dump, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.  There he works with a people who make a living from scavenging recyclable materials to create photographic portraits of them out of these materials.

March 2011
 Noted Birmingham photographer Sonja Rieger presented a slide lecture focused on her stunning new portraits of drag performers at the Platinum International Newcomers Pageant. Rieger is Professor of Photography at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, where she has taught since 1979. She received her BFA from Rutgers University and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Over the past 20 years she has exhibited her work regularly, most recently at Birmingham’s beta pictoris gallery and at the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans.

October 2010
- Curator Ron Platt led a full day trip to Atlanta devoted to modern & contemporary photography.

- At the 20th Annual Collectors Circle Dinner,  members of the Collectors Circle Dinner voted to apply this year's membership funds toward the acquisition of a painting by Kerry James Marshall.

- Andy Warhol Paints a Portrait : A Lecture by Neil Printz
Neil Printz, Editor of the Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne, presented selections from Warhol’s 40-year love-affair with the human face, focusing on the portraits of Birmingham’s Charles and Caroline Ireland, painted in 1979 when Warhol’s portrait practice was flourishing and he was at the height of his creative powers.

September 2010
Talk and advance screenings by video artist Janet Biggs - Janet Biggs, a participant in this year’s Sidewalk Film Festival, is a renowned artist whose striking and meditative videos have been exhibited internationally.  At this special talk and screening for Collectors Circle members, Janet discussed her approach to video and pre-screened her two short entries to this year’s festival.

June 2010
Cocktails with Collectors - Collectors Circle members met at a private home to view a collection that focuses on contemporary paintingincluding works by artists such as David Reed, Thomas Nozkowski, Monique Prieto, Radcliffe Bailey, John Sonsini, and numerous others.

May 2010
Collectors Circle trip to Chicago - Collectors Circle members traveled to Chicago with Curator Ron Platt for visits to museums, galleries, outdoor art, artists' studios and private collections.

April 2010
Cocktails and Conversation - Members were invited to bring a friend or two who might be interested in joining the Collectors Circle to enjoy hors d'oeuvres by Sol y Luna, live music, and door prizes.

March 2010
University of Montevallo Professor Kelly Wacker spoke about contemporary art from an art historical perspective in the Museum's Members Room.

February 2010
Gallery Talk by sculptor and UAB Professor John Douglas Powers at the Alabama School of Fine Arts Gallery.  John discussed his work and the Alabama School of Fine Arts exhibition Elysium with Collectors Circle members.  See images and video of John's work at www.john-powers.com