City of Atlanta
Mayor's Office of
Cultural Affairs

ELEVATE: Summer

Friday, July 22, 2016

On July 22nd, 2016 the City of Atlanta- Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs introduced a new ELEVATE event called ELEVATE: Summer. This new event was the beginning of making ELEVATE a year-round public art experience with seasonal programming. ELEVATE: Summer took place on Broad St. SW from 3:00-11:00pm. This one day event featured performance art, dance, music, public art installations by nearby arts organizations, an artist market, and food trucks. The purpose of ELEVATE: Summer was to bring attention to the performing arts of Atlanta and the state of Georgia while also showcasing the arts organizations that have created an arts district in the Broad St. SW area. Atlanta artist and long-time contributor to the arts, Priscilla Smith, was the emcee for the day.

During ELEVATE: Summer event, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs announced its plans for the sixth annual ELEVATE public art festival, to occur later this year in October. The week-long ELEVATE public art festival will take place from October 13-21, 2016 along Broad Street SW in South Downtown. Included in this announcement was the unveiling of the ELEVATE curatorial team—comprised of Allie Bashuk, Monica Campana, Pastiche Lumumba and Mark DiNatale. This diverse curatorial team will help bring unique public art experiences through the festival theme “Microcosm.”

ELEVATE: Summer Programming:

For ELEVATE: Summer the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) partnered with Poetry Slam Inc. to bring Georgia poetry slam groups Java Monkey, Just N Thyme, Fountain City and Art Amok to the event. Additionally, OCA curated an artist market and commissioned the 5 arts organizations  (i.e. Mammal Gallery, Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery, Downtown Player’s Club, Murmur, and Broad Street Visitors Center) in South Downtown to create art installations for ELEVATE: Summer.