DRAFT #3- RMC/AY Edits

Landscape paintings by architect Peter Polites opens today at Millennium Gate

ATLANTA -- Architects are often artists too. Hello Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Meier, Naguchi, Gaudi and John Portman to name a few. Atlanta architect Peter Polites has painted for 50 years.

In a solo exhibition titled WAVES: New Paintings by Peter Polites, 20 ocean and marsh landscapes are presented, inspired by growing up in Savannah surrounded by classical old world beauty. The exhibition opens October 4 and remains on view through November 5 at the Millennium Gate Museum in Midtown Atlanta, 395 17th Street in Atlantic Station. Extended hours for WAVES are Tuesday – Friday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; closed Sunday and Monday. Museum admission is $10 with discounts for seniors and children.

The public is invited to a tour of the exhibition with the artist on Saturday,

October 22 at 2:00 p.m. Museum admission is free that afternoon.

While working as the architect for the $10 million Newington Cropsey Museum in New York, Polites recalls having a life-changing experience. “I had the rare opportunity to closely study masterpieces by the Hudson River School painters, especially Jasper Cropsey.” He believes that Realist style of painting is sorely missing in today’s computerized world. Polites captures fleeting moments in nature using classical painting techniques while infusing each scene with his own interpretations and emotion. Subjects range from stormy dark skies to bright golden sunrises and quiet mornings in the marshes and on the beaches of Tybee Island, Georgia.

“Peter is really coming into his own as a painter,” remarks Rodney Mims Cook, President of the National Monuments Foundation headquartered at the Millennium Gate Museum. Cook and Polites, close friends and colleagues, have collaborated on several architectural projects including the Newington Cropsey Museum and The Prince of Wales’s Foundation Monument to World Athletes commissioned for the Atlanta Olympic Games. “I’ve admired Peter’s landscape paintings for years. The time is right to share his talents with a national audience by introducing his new work,” Cook adds.

More background: Polites earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1972. He apprenticed with John Portman & Associates for four years then joined the staff of Cooper Carry for 10 years, both prominent architectural firms in Atlanta. In 1985 he founded Polites & Associates and has designed hundreds of homes, office buildings and interiors of luxury condos.

Pronouncing the artist’s name: Puh - light’ – us