By Howard Pousner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The High Museum of Art, which has benefited from partnerships with elite museums such as the Louvre and Museum of Modern Art, has found four new partners much closer to home.

The Atlanta museum is announcing today the launch of the Georgia Art Museum Partnership with the Albany Museum of Art, the Columbus Museum, Savannah’s Telfair Museum of Art and Athens’ Georgia Museum of Art. The initiative is a three-year pilot program that will enable the quintet of museums to share resources and collections.

While the High has borrowed and lent works from its collection over the years with its new partners, formalizing the relationship should lead to a much higher level of sharing, said David Brenneman, High director of collections and exhibitions.

“You always learn something when you get into a relationship or collaboration, because you hear what the other side wants and needs, and they get to hear what you want and need,” Brenneman said. “Even though we’re neighbors, we’ve never really talked [in depth], never really learned about each other.”

Initial interactions have led to one surprise already: Instead of discussions of collection loans, their main interest has been in matters of professional development.

Last fall, the new partners held a workshop at the High focused on the relationship between the individual museums’ curatorial and education departments, using the High’s work with the Louvre as a case study. One topics discussed was the way the museums’ permanent collections are represented on their respective Web sites.

“In a way, what we’re doing [so far] is collaborating together to help ourselves collaborate within our own institutions,” Brenneman said.

A follow-up meeting is planned in Columbus in March. The partners also have expressed interest in sharing insights on development, marketing and public relations.

Of course, collection sharing is starting to come up as well.

The Albany Museum has expressed interest in remounting a 2005 High exhibit of native American portraits by 19th century artist Henry Inman, drawn from its own collection and an Atlanta private collection, Brenneman said. And the High and Albany both have strong African art holdings, so the respective curators plan to meet to discuss an exchange.

The partnership could be extended beyond three years if leaders of the five museums feel it is succeeding.

“I think the point of this is regular sustained contact, and contact, when it happens, in a meaningful, substantial way,” Brenneman said. “It’s really challenging given everyone’s busy schedules. It’s never happened, but we’re making it happen.”