News release, May 18, 1998

Georgia Department of Labor
Suite 642 148 International Boulevard N.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303-1751 (404)656-3032

May 18, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARTIST HUEY THEUS DONATES FIVE ORIGINAL COLOR PAINTINGS OF STATE'S LIGHTHOUSES TO GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

ATLANTA -- Well-known Georgia artist Huey J. Theus of Cobb County has donated his original color paintings of the state's five lighthouses to the Georgia Department of Labor. The retail value of the collection is $3,500.

The acrylics depict the lighthouses at Cockspur, Little Cumberland, Sapelo, St. Simons and Tybee islands off the Georgia coast. They are displayed at the labor department's central office at 148 International Boulevard in downtown Atlanta, where Theus heads the agency's marketing and special projects unit.

"The paintings are a very generous donation by one of Georgia's finest artists," said State Labor Commissioner Marti Fullerton. "Huey's contribution is very much appreciated, because it will give more Georgians an opportunity to enjoy his work. His paintings will hang in our lobby for everyone to see when they come to the labor department."

On June 6, Theus, 59, returns to his native Crisp County, where the Cordele Art Alliance will kick off a month-long showing of his best work. One hundred of his pieces in acrylics, color-lithograph and pen and ink will be featured at the public library.

"My childhood recollections of rural scenes in south Georgia, especially around Cordele and Crisp County, are reflected in much of my work," Theus said. "My art actually began as a hobby, but I started to take it very seriously in the early 1970s."

Since then, his paintings have won various awards, including a resolution honoring his work by the Georgia State Senate.

In 1972, Theus joined the labor department as a community resources specialist in Atlanta. His job was to establish Jaycee chapters within the state's prison system to lower the recidivism rate. "The idea was to get an ex-offender a job, get him hooked up with a local Jaycee chapter, and he would be too busy to get in trouble and go back to prison," Theus recalls. He came into that job quite naturally, having served as national vice president of the Jaycees and president of the Georgia Chapter of the Jaycees.

Through the years, Theus has worked in several labor department programs, including public service employment, the regulation of private employment agencies, the Work Incentive (WIN) program, food stamps, and public relations and information. He has been a member of the International Association of Personnel in Employment Security (IAPES), the professional organization for labor department employees, for 26 years. He has served five years as chairman of that organization's veterans affairs committee, three years as publicity chairman and as an area representative to the group's board of directors.

Theus is married to the former Andrea Batchelor of Monroe. The couple have five grown childen and five grandchildren. His mother, Catherine Theus, and sister, Patricia Theus Cross, still reside in Cordele.

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