If you go Morris Museum of Art, "Maritime Memories: The Art of Wilam 0. Golding." Through Sept. 9 1 Tenth St., (706) 724-7501 or www.themorris.org

"Steam Yacht Thelma," by William Golding. 1935.

"Maritime Memories: The Art of William 0. Golding" will be on exhibit at the Morris Museum of Art through Sept. 9. The exhibition chronicles the life and art of African-American self-taught artist William 0. Golding and features selected works from the Morris Museum of Art's permanent collection and the Charleston Renaissance Gallery in Charleston, S.C.

Golding's life has all the elements of a fantastic sea tale. Abducted from the Savannah waterfront at the age of eight, Golding began his career as a cabin boy and later claimed to have made numerous voyages to distant locales during a career at sea that spanned 50 years. In 1932, at the age of 59, Golding began to visually record his life's adventures. During his convalescence from a chronic case of bronchitis at the United States Marine Hospital in Savannah, Margaret Stiles, an artist and the hospital's recreation director, encouraged Golding to record his seafaring experiences.

Golding's animated pencil and crayon drawings visually document his voyages around the world. Each place can be distinguished from one another by the painstaking effort that Golding used to reproduce the ships, flags, people, monuments and named establishments of each locale. Of the many ports that he visited, he returned home to Savannah, where he died in 1943.