As published by Connect Savannah, by Erica Lang - September 22, 2023 - After serving 20 years as the Chief Communications Officer for the Georgia Ports Authority, Robert Morris has boatloads of inspiration for his artwork. Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum will host his latest collection, “Outward Bound,” opening to the public on October 11.

The thirty-piece exhibition is a blend of Morris’ artistic view—one that combines his experience as an executive for the nation’s fastest growing port with life at sea on his own boat, Grace, a Swedish Storebro Royal Cruiser 34.

Katherine Sandoz, the exhibition’s guest curator, said this perspective is one of the most interesting parts of Morris’ artwork.

“He is a ship’s captain in addition to being a painter and both of these things require a lot of knowledge about science and technology and engineering and math, which people don't really talk about when they're talking about art,” Sandoz said.

***The art of Robert Morris taken Monday, July, 31, 2023, in Tybee Island, Ga. (Photo by Stephen B. Morton)***

“Outward Bound,” the namesake of the show, is an oil on canvas piece depicting a ship leaving the port, but the maritime expression also holds a personal meaning for Morris.

“As a 16-year-old, young man, I went on the survival course, Outward Bound, and it was a very intense experience and really helped me learn about one’s survival into the connection between mind, body and soul, which is something that I tried to recreate in my paintings.” he said.

Molly Taylor, executive director of Ships of the Sea, said the exhibition has been over a year in the making and was purposefully planned to open during Savannah’s annual State of the Port week.

“Robert puts forward an evocative perspective that will intrigue the international maritime community in town for the annual event, while offering Savannahians a fresh viewpoint of the mighty ships we see every day,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the exhibition is the first step in bringing more contemporary maritime history into the museum. In the future, she intends on exploring the significance of shipping, modern container ships and global trade.

“We are building a new building in the next five years due south of the current museum and that will give us the opportunity to really tell the contemporary maritime history story,” she said.

With his paintings, Morris invites us all to take a closer look at the ships that pass-through Savannah River every day.

“One of the things I've always said about my maritime art is when you are standing on River Street, and you see one of these ships depart, there's a sense of awe, just at the size of the ship, but there's also this sense of wonder, of the high seas, of where that ship goes when it leaves Savannah and I've always had this feeling that a little part of all of us who have the wonder of the high seas in their heart, we go with that ship and so I want the vessel paintings, the maritime paintings, to reflect that wonder of departure and arrival.”

Outward Bound will be on display at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum through March 2024. For more information, visit shipsofthesea.org.