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Tell Us What You See…

Maintaining a vast public art collection for an entire city can be challenging at times. That’s why the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) appreciates the communities’ notifications– it helps us stay aware of the condition of public art works across the city.

Recently we received word from a constituent that Toby Martin’s crimson-colored sculpture, My Spirit is Changing had fallen victim to vandalism. Within a week’s span, treatment was underway to address this graffiti in Capitol View’s Perkerson Park.  During this sculpture’s graffiti removal, we received word from another Samaritan that someone had vandalized Helen Helwig’s ground mosaic Finding a Way to Harmony in Lakewood. Our Conservation and Maintenance Team sprung into action, visiting South Bend Center for Art and Culture to assess the overpainting and develop a plan of approach. Within 10 days of notification, both artworks were successfully treated.

We wish to highlight the quick turnaround of these treatments, to raise awareness about the direct power of community involvement. We continually assess the condition of all City-owned artwork, but sometimes property damage occurs during the time between assessments. That’s when civilian eyes and ears can really help support our mission.

Enacting change can be as simple as picking up the phone or sending an e-mail. So, remember, this is your city; if you see something, say something.

To report damage to any City-owned artwork in City Parks, please feel free call 404.546.6813 or send an e-mail to parkscustomerservice@atlantaga.gov.

You can visit this online database (https://www.ocaatlanta.com/arts-hub/#search/art) to see which works of art the City manages.

This map is also helpful, to pinpoint locations.

Confluence Exhibit & Book Drive at Chastain Arts Center & Gallery

Chastain Arts Center & Gallery is hosting a Book Drive, in conjunction with the Confluence: The Art of F. Geoffrey Johnson exhibit .

The book drive will be ongoing while the exhibition is up through Friday, April 8th.  All books traded will be donated to Books for Africa.  Donors will receive an Olympic pin from a past Olympic year. The exhibition and book drive are free and open to the public. COVID safety guidelines are required for all indoor activity.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS – SOCIAL MEDIA / DIGITAL MARKETING

Happy New Year from the OCA

Contracts for Arts Services is Now Municipal Support for the Arts

The City of Atlanta municipal code authorizes the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) to provide a program of municipal support for the arts. For over three decades, the City of Atlanta has supported Atlanta’s thriving arts community by funding programs and projects related to the production, creation, presentation, exhibition, and managerial support of artistic and cultural services in the city of Atlanta through the OCA’s Contacts for Arts Services program.

In an effort to update the requirements of the program, to best suit the City’s ability to provide funding support to its arts community, the following changes have been implemented:

Since this is a funding support program, and not a bid for city services, removing procurement terminology from the program name will remove the assumption that procurement processes must be used for the administration of funding support.

The annual legislation will allow the City to shorten the timeline for disbursing grant funds, significantly reducing the burden on the small non-profit organizations that comprise most of the applicant pool.

The Municipal Support for the Arts program will remain the City of Atlanta’s means of granting public funding to the arts, providing general operating or project support to Atlanta’s non-profit arts and community organizations.

The City of Atlanta Hosts Groundbreaking Ceremony for Eternal Flame Memorial for Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered Children

The City of Atlanta, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Missing and Murdered Children Memorial Taskforce and artist Gordon Huether, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the city’s Eternal Flame Memorial, dedicated to honoring the lives cut short during what is now known as the Atlanta Child Murders.

The completed memorial will be installed on the exterior grounds of City Hall, near the corner of Mitchell Street and Washington Avenue, in 2022.  Artist Gordon Huether designed the monument which will serve as a public place of reflection and recognition of the many lives lost during one of the darkest moments of our city’s history and offers eternal gratitude to those who aided in searches, recovery, and healing efforts.  It has been a key initiative of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to create “a lasting and appropriate tribute for the victims and their families, to serve as a testament that those lives mattered–that African American lives matter.”

Huether’s design will be created out of corten steel with LED up lighting and includes an eternal flame with the names of the 30 victims identified by the Atlanta Children’s Memorial Taskforce. There will be a space below each name to place, flowers or other tokens of remembrance. This artwork is one of two memorial projects to honor Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered Children, including a commissioned portrait exhibit at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

More information, courtesy of WXIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XI8tatQlTM

Community Mural Unveiling, Saturday, December 4th at 11 am

 

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), through its Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition (BLACC), have joined forces with the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Atlanta City Councilwoman Marci Overstreet (Atlanta-District 11) and local artist TeMika Grooms to bring together individuals from across metro Atlanta, to create a mural paying tribute to Black Americans in the metro Atlanta community that have been leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

A Community Paint Day took place in November where volunteers contributed to painting the mural which is on display at 3190 Campbelton Road, SW.

There will be a free community event, as a part of on-going WORLD AIDS Day events, on Saturday, December 4, 2021 from 11 am to 1 pm, where the mural will be officially unveiled. All are invited to come out and enjoy the festivities, food, family fun and educational resources.

Location: 3190 Campbelton Road, SW; Atlanta, GA

Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM, program begins at 11:30 AM

Parking will be available at Westgate Plaza

Playground Restoration – Maintaining an Interactive Sculpture

Four Corners Park is home to In Search of Awe – a unique interactive playground structure created in 1993 by artist and architect Eleanor Hand.  Hand ensured this project was a community collaboration, engaging children of the local neighborhood to participate in, and learn the process.  Many children created models of their ideas and the community chose the design of a quaint house encompassed by a heart, created by Isaia Jackson, age 15.  Hand implemented plans for a functional sculpture based on Jackson’s idea, and she enlisted the help of children in the community to bring the design to life.

Since its creation in decades past, the painted iron and wood structure has experienced wear and tear at the hands of nature, the elements, and human activity.  The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs has been working to turn back time and give some love back to this play sanctuary.  Prior to the artwork’s restoration, an assessment was performed by Shannon Douglas Kimbro, Public Art Conservation and Maintenance Manager.  There was vandalism on many areas of the sculpture, either drawn with graphite, chalk, or paint, or otherwise scratched into surfaces.  Paint was discovered to be failing on the metal components of the structure, causing spots of corrosion to appear upon the metal beneath.  Lichen was found to be inhabiting areas of the roof and walls.

Full treatment was initiated by the Public Art Conservation and Maintenance team.  The site was visited multiple times for general graffiti removal, mold removal, power washing, and meticulous re-painting, ensuring that the structure remains safe and clean for the continued enjoyment within the community.  The restoration is now complete, and this outdoor communal play structure is open to the public once again.

Restoring Ex-Static: A Complex System in Flux

A lot has happened lately in the bustling city of Atlanta as residents enjoy the last gifts of summer produce and the first of autumn’s crunchy leaves, and alongside the recent ELEVATE programming, our city had the privilege of seeing nationally renowned artist Maria Artemis unveil her artwork, Ex-Static, in its newly restored state.  The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with Building Four Fabrications, has restored Maria’s 1996 sculptural array to its original radiance.

The 1996 Centennial Olympic Games were a pivotal point in Atlanta’s history, not only because our city hosted people from all over the world to participate in such a momentous tradition, but also because, during the six years of preparation for such an influx of visitors, Atlanta became further culturally fortified with new structures and works of public art, citywide.  The City of Atlanta accessed upwards of forty new sculptural and architectural public artworks in 1996, Ex-Static being one of those.  Commissioned by the Corporation for Olympic Development in Atlanta (CODA), Ex-Static showcases marvelous feats of engineering, housed within aesthetic fluidity.  Examining Ex-Static is like walking into a complex idea in motion.

Crafted, in part, out of repurposed airplane components donated by Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, the artwork is dedicated to Artemis’s father, a former engineer at Lockheed who worked on the two aircrafts (the C-5 and the C-141) that were the source of materials for this installation.  From the artist’s website: “These technically sophisticated elements, engineered for another purpose, are reworked. The surfaces have been polished, sandblasted or left with minimal cleaning, and sealed. The beauty of the interior structure has been revealed and emphasized by contrasting paint.  The title of the work comes from a stencil found on one of the engine pylons, which read: Ex-Static Test Program.”

After experiencing decades of urban activity, this landmark was due for some serious maintenance.  Maria Artemis generously consulted on the restoration project with Frank Yoculan of Building Four Fabrications, and Frank spearheaded the hands-on restoration efforts.  Over the course of months, he and his team performed refinishing and intensive repair on various segments of the artwork, in order to realign the artwork with Maria Artemis’s original vision.  Funding for this restoration project was provided by the RENEW TSPLOST Infrastructure Bond.  Located within the median triangle at the intersection of Pine Street NE and West Peachtree Street NW, this revitalized artwork is now open and available for public viewing and exploration, just one block north of Civic Center MARTA Station.

Lisa Tuttle’s Postcolonial Karma Now Open at Gallery 72

Atlanta, GA — Lisa Tuttle’s postcolonial karma exhibition at Gallery 72 takes viewers on a journey that has been both complicated and enlightening for the Atlanta-based conceptual artist whose work addresses issues of gender, race and class. As a white woman born and raised in the South, descended from white Southerners, living in a progressive, multicultural Atlanta – Tuttle’s multi-media art practice has often reflected on the relationship, and conflict, between the races. postcolonial karma shares some of these observations. The exhibition opened on Friday, October 8 and will be on view through January 31, 2022. Gallery 72 is located at 72 Marietta Street, Atlanta, GA 30303. Admission is free and open to the public.

“We are excited to present this timely and thought-provoking artwork by Atlanta artist Lisa Tuttle,” states Kevin Sipp, Manager of Gallery 72 for the City of Atlanta – Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “We hope the work encourages conversation.”

postcolonial karma is a focused retrospective of Tuttle’s artworks, created over the last 25 years, whose topic has been a personal exploration of the interaction of black and white cultures in the American South, and in the world, including Belgium and South Africa. These works have been shown in previous solo and group exhibitions, but never collectively.

Tuttle has created new artwork for this exhibition, focusing on alternative proposals to address the carving of the three Confederate leaders at Stone Mountain. In considering the current efforts to remove Confederate iconography from public space, the trajectory of her work shifted – focusing specifically on women’s roles in the erection of Confederate monuments and the construction of the myth of the “Lost Cause”.

Approximately 30 artworks are featured in postcolonial karma, including fabric works, photographs, mixed media constructions, and works on paper. *Artwork featured in this release is Klan Ghosts on Stone Mountain.

Gallery 72 is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. Guests are required to wear masks and abide by COVID protocols when visiting the gallery.

This exhibition is part of this year’s ELEVATE Atlanta Art Festival and the project is funded by the City of Atlanta – Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

MEDIA: For artwork for this release, go to the ELEVATE media Dropbox https://bit.ly/ELEVATE-ATL-2021 and click on the Lisa Tuttle folder. To set up interviews, or for more information, contact Karen Hatchett at Hatchett PR, karen@hatchettpr.com.

This Sunday–Free Concert in Westside Park

Join Mayor Bottoms for the City’s first concert in Westside Park, featuring Algebra Blessett (@Yesitsalgebra) and Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics (@TheSoulphonics). Admission is free.

#ElevateATL #ElevateArt #Atlanta #AtlantaArtists #Music

CALL FOR ARTISTS! Submission deadline is 10/25/21

 

Chastain Arts Center has officially reopened!

Registration for the Fall 2021 Session 2 is Open! Dates: November 8th – December 17th

Chastain Arts Center (CAC) offers classes in drawing, printmaking, pottery, painting, jewelry making, framemaking and more. The CAC is located inside Chastain Park, in northwest Atlanta.

Click here for more information or give us a call at 404.252.2927

Now Hiring!

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs is seeking an experienced Public Art Project Coordinator to join our team. Only candidates who complete online applications will be considered.

APPLY TODAY! Opportunity to apply expires October 7th.

October is National Arts & Humanties Month Get Involved!

October is National Arts & Humanities Month (NAHM)—a coast-to-coast collective recognition of the importance of culture in America. NAHM was launched by Americans for the Arts more than 30 years ago as National Arts Week in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1993, it was reestablished by Americans for the Arts and national arts partners as a month-long celebration, with goals of:

FOCUSING on equitable access to the arts at local, state, and national levels;

ENCOURAGING individuals, organizations, and diverse communities to participate in the arts;

ALLOWING governments and businesses to show their support of the arts; and

RAISING public awareness about the role the arts and humanities play in our communities and lives.

The arts and humanities have played a critically important role in getting us through the COVID-19 pandemic and in amplifying the need for racial equity across the country. National Arts & Humanities Month is the time for communities to come together in unified celebration of the power of the arts to make a difference and change our lives for the better.

Join in the celebration of art & culture by taking part in the #ShowYourArt2021 challenge.

#showyourart2021

Whether you only share a few times or set a goal for all 31 days, post your art, how you’ve participated in the arts and the art you experience during the month of October using the hashtag #ShowYourArt2021.

We can’t wait to see your posts! Americans for the Arts has created a handy list of art and humanities categories to help you get started.

ELEVATE 2021 Showcases Art, Music, Murals, Dance, Movies & More Every Weekend In October!

ELEVATE 2021 will take place each weekend in October in partnership with art galleries, museums, theaters, performance venues, restaurants and bars throughout the city.

The theme of this year’s public art festival, REVIVAL: Reopen, Reconnect, Reignite, will help ignite interest in arts and cultural events in communities across Atlanta, from Buckhead to Downtown and Old Fourth Ward to West End.

Visit https://www.elevateatlart.com/elevate-21 for event details.

 

Quincy Jones’ QwestTV Teams up with the Atlanta Jazz Festival for Exclusive Livestream

Live stream the Meadow Stage performances on Labor Day weekend, September 5 and 6, 2021 with one month of free access to Qwest TV

Qwest TV, a premium video streaming service focused on music-related content, is joining forces with the 43rd annual Atlanta Jazz Festival as its exclusive broadcast partner. The festival, free to all for nearly half a century, unites jazz icons and newcomers for a weekend of powerful performances in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. On Labor Day weekend, September 5 and 6, 2021, jazz lovers around the world can stream the Atlanta Jazz Festival’s Meadow Stage performances through Qwest TV’s exclusive livestream. Qwest TV will also offer fans one month of free access to its platform beginning August 4 with code “atlantajazz“ on qwest.tv/atlantajazz.

In addition to an inspiring lineup of emerging artists, the Atlanta Jazz Festival features multiple seasoned jazz greats. Thanks to a soaring, deeply expressive voice, Patti Austin (September 5) has effortlessly glided between the worlds of jazz and pop, collaborating with everyone from George Benson to Michael Jackson. Revered saxophone player and music scholar Archie Shepp (September 6) has innovated African-American musical lineages for decades, playing with greats like John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor, before further exploring new territory in his work with European jazz performers and spiritual master musicians from Morocco. Part of the Miles Davis Quintet, master double-bassist Ron Carter holds the world record as the most recorded bassist of all time and has won two GRAMMYs for his highly creative work.

“It truly makes my soul smile to announce that my beloved Qwest TV will be exclusive broadcast partner to the Atlanta Jazz Festival,a beacon of free culture in a city with incredibly deep and important music roots!” said Quincy Jones. “Catch true legends alongside today’s trailblazers from the festival’s AMAZING concert schedule only on Qwest TV, my HD and 4K streaming platform. It’s free to sign up and join a family of diverse music lovers.”

“The Atlanta Jazz Festival’s broadcast partnership with Qwest TV will give people around the world the opportunity to see why this is such an important event in our city,” said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “The concert’s popularity each year proves how culturally relevant jazz remains and exemplifies Atlanta’s ongoing commitment to the arts and culture.”

“The Atlanta Jazz Festival encapsulates everything we strive for as a streaming service dedicated to the world’s best, genre-defying music,” explained Reza Ackbaraly, co-founder and CEO of Qwest TV. “The Festival’s dedication to the community and the access provided for anyone hoping to hear high-caliber music both resonate with our mission, which is to give as many people as possible access to the best, most creative musical performances out there.”

To emphasize this spirit of arts accessibility, Qwest TV will offer Atlanta Jazz Festival fans one month of free access to its extensive, carefully curated collection of 1,300+ key concerts and performances from around the world. Beginning August 4, fans can sign up for the free trial using code “atlantajazz“ on qwest.tv/atlantajazz.

Qwest TV will broadcast from the Festival’s Meadow Stage on September 5 and 6 via its SVOD service and its live channel, Qwest TV Jazz and Beyond. Qwest TV will also share exciting interviews and other content focusing on the festival’s artists and their music lineages and visions. Artists featured on the broadcast will include:

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Monday, September 6, 2021

“Music, and jazz in particular, is a foundational part of Atlanta’s identity,” explains Camille Russell Love, Executive Director of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “We’re excited to share our event and our community with music fans around the world, thanks to this partnership with Qwest TV.”

For a full festival lineup, see https://atlantafestivals.com/.

RSVP to the Facebook event here: Day 1 and Day 2.

Elevate 2021 Exhibitions at City Galleries

Gallery 72 exhibition Set for ELEVATE–September 19th / November 31st

Postcolonial Karma will be a focused retrospective survey of Lisa Tuttle’s artworks, created over the last 25 years, whose topic has been a personal exploration of the interaction of black and white cultures in the American South, and in the world. These works have been shown in several previous solo and group exhibitions (but never collectively):

Color, Culture and Complexity – MoCA GA

Inheritance – Sandler Hudson Gallery

Belgian (Congo) Diary – Sandler Hudson Gallery

Palimpsest: A Sea Island Cotton Plantation – City Gallery East, Clark-Atlanta University and Atlanta Contemporary

Haunted – Chastain Gallery

Journey – Caversham Press, South Africa

Fence – Agnes Scott College

Mock Proposal  – Poem88

Tuttle is also creating new work for this exhibition, focusing on alternative proposals to address the carving of the three Confederate leaders at Stone Mountain.

Approximately 30 artworks will be exhibited, including fabric works, photographs, mixed media constructions, and works on paper. Community conversations/engagements will be presented, artist talks and panels – and a modest companion catalogue raisonné (print on-demand) will be produced.

…

New Acquisitions- Showcasing City of Atlanta Recent Art Purchases

Chastain Art Center Gallery and The Mayor’s Gallery at City Hall -September 18th/October 31st ,2021

During the Pandemic the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) understood that the best way to support artists was to support their artistry. After promoting a public call for submissions, we received overwhelming responses from each creative category.  We convened expert panels to select a final list of poets, short story writers, photographers, painters, and choreographers for the creation of new works and the purchase of existing works. The exhibition New Acquisitions highlights the works of art that are now part of the City of Atlanta’s permanent art collection. Eventually each of these works will be displayed in public spaces owned and administered by the City of Atlanta. This exhibition will feature 30 + artist and their distinctive works.

Gallery 72 at 2 City Plaza, is a municipal gallery operated by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs dedicated to presenting stimulating and thought provoking contemporary art and programs that focus on advancing Atlanta’s arts offering. The gallery is located at 72 Marietta Street NW; Atlanta, GA 30303.

Chastain Arts Center is an educational facility that offers classes, workshops, and exhibits in a variety of creative mediums. Established in 1968 as an arts center, Chastain Arts Center is the oldest Arts Center in Atlanta.

Chastain Art Center is located at 135 Chastain Park Ave.; Atlanta, GA 30342.

The Mayor’s Gallery at City Hall gives rising and established artists an unparalleled showcase and seeks to establish itself as a launching pad for underrepresented Atlanta art professionals, as well as new Atlanta arrivals deserving of exposure.

The Mayor’s Gallery is a municipal art gallery located at 55 Trinity Ave SW; Atlanta, GA 30303 on the 2nd floor of the City Hall Annex in the foyer of the Mayor’s Suite.

ELEVATE 2021 To Reconnect Communities With Arts & Cultural Experiences

Media Contact:
Karen Hatchett, Hatchett PR

ELEVATE Atlanta Art Festival To Activate Communities With Art As They REOPEN, REIGNITE & RECONNECT

Atlanta, GA — As residents and businesses begin the process of moving forward with hope and optimism past the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s ELEVATE Atlanta Art Festival will help activate communities throughout Atlanta with art and cultural activities. The festival will include partnerships with art galleries, museums, theaters, performance venues, restaurants, bars, shops, colleges, parks, and libraries. ELEVATE 2021: REOPEN, REIGNITE & RECONNECT will take place from September 10 – October 31, 2021.

“As we emerge from a global pandemic, people are eager to share experiences and celebrate,” states Camille Russell Love, Executive Director of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “During this year’s ELEVATE Atlanta Art Festival our mission is to assist and amplify the efforts of the cultural community and local businesses as they safely REOPEN, REIGNITE & RECONNECT. We continue our commitment to highlight the outstanding work of local artists, and this year we are broadening the festival’s scope. Join us beginning Labor Day Weekend with the return of the Atlanta Jazz Festival, and every weekend through October in neighborhoods across Atlanta to enjoy music, art, dance, film and a few surprises.”

“Over the last year, the world has been forced to pause and affirm its value in LIFE,” says Charmaine Minniefield, artist, activist and ELEVATE Atlanta Art Festival 2021 curator. “We have witnessed great loss, while reckoning with difficult truths about our generation and what we want our legacy to be. We have been given a chance to imagine what we truly want for our future. It’s time now to come together in creative spaces of possibilities, safely in community, to begin to make our new world.”

The City of Atlanta – Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs’ vision is to enhance the quality of life through arts and culture, and to contribute positively to the social and economic health of Atlanta and the region. Their mission is to promote rich, diverse, and educational cultural experiences; nurture artists and arts organizations; preserve and protect the city’s cultural heritage; and expand Atlanta’s international reputation. ELEVATE is a program of the City of Atlanta – Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

For news and updates about ELEVATE 2021: REOPEN, REIGNITE & RECONNECT visit the website, elevateatlart.com.

For more information, please contact Karen Hatchett at Hatchett PR, karen@hatchettpr.com.

Atlanta Jazz Festival Returns to Piedmont Park, Labor Day Weekend

After a year off, fans will delight in the sounds of legendary jazz musicians like Patti Austin and Archie Shepp – along with rising stars like Jazzmeia Horn and Ryan Kilgore – as well as jazz education workshops, the Kids Zone and more!

The 2021 Atlanta Jazz Festival (AJF), occurring Sunday, September 5 and Monday, September 6, was moved to Labor Day Weekend in Piedmont Park.  Fans are welcome to come out to the park and enjoy live music, education food and fun in open spaces. For those who cannot attend, we will be live-streaming the Meadow Stage performances to jazz fans across the globe through our unique partnership with Quincy Jones’ Qwest TV.   Festival fans can use discount code “atlantajazz“ on qwest.tv/atlantajazz for one month of free access!

The AJF features outstanding performances on two stages: the Meadow Stage and the Oak Hill Stage. The Meadow Stage line-up for Sunday will feature Karla Harris, Ryan Kilgore, Jazzmeia Horn, the Ron Carter Quartet and jazz, R+B, pop crossover sensation Patti Austin.

On Monday, the Meadow Stage musicians include Isaiah Sharkey, Laurin Talese, Theo Croker, Sean Jones and revered saxophonist and scholar, Archie Shepp.

On Sunday, September 5, the Oak Hill Stage will feature international jazz artists Pasquale Grasso Trio, Yuko Mabuchi, Alexey Marti and Miguel Zenon, while Monday’s performances feature Brenda Nicole Moorer, Logan Richardson, Irreversible Entanglements and Mike Phillips.

This year, the AJF will also feature an educational component with free Jazz 101 workshops that will be led by Grammy-nominated, Grammy-winning and esteemed jazz musicians, including vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, bassist Ron Carter, saxophonists Mike Phillips, Miguel Zenon and Archie Shepp, and trumpeter Sean Jones. The workshops will be held in the Greystone building at Piedmont Park. Registration is recommended due to limited seating and masks are required.

Local artist Michael Reese created this year’s official artwork, “Theories of the Lowest End,” which will be featured on a throw blanket and poster. The merchandise, along with caps, aprons and T-shirts, are available through  shop.atlantafestivals.com, the Atlanta Jazz Festival’s first e-commerce store, where sale proceeds help to keep the event free of charge. This year also includes a special collaboration with Atlanta Influences Everything for a limited-edition T-shirt available through the e-commerce store as well as The Artist Market and merchant tents.

The Festival is hosting a special artist village featuring 10 local artists along with The Artist Market which delights fans with eclectic and handcrafted goods that line the park’s sidewalks, along with a variety of food and drinks available for purchase.

The Kids Zone is back in the Meadow from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday and Monday, September 5 – 6. A free interactive experience for children called “African Drums for Kids” will happen on Sunday and Monday in the Kid Zone and be led by two-time Grammy-nominated trumpeter, composer and bandleader Russell Gunn. Participating children will receive a T- shirt and a percussion instrument as keepsakes from the 30-minute workshops. There will also be a Baby Rest Stop with changing tables and a designated area for nursing mothers – all free of charge.

This year’s event sponsors include Publix, PNC Bank, Georgia Power, Tito’s Vodka, Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United FC, MARTA, Qwest TV, Moxy Atlanta Midtown and the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.

For more details, visit the events pages at AtlantaFestivals.com or ATLJazzFest.com.

 

Know Before You Go – Park Rules & COVID-19 Precautions 

The City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Jazz Festival are following the science and recommendations for safe events. We encourage those attending the festival to be courteous to their neighbors and follow these protocols:

– Masks are strongly encouraged for all attendees, regardless of vaccination status
– Following City of Atlanta guidelines, masks are required for indoor events like Jazz 101 workshops
– Attendees are encouraged to social distance at all times

In addition, there will be enhanced sanitization at the event, including regularly disinfecting surfaces and hand sanitizer stations available to all attendees.

For a complete list of park rules, click here.

Thank you for helping us make the Atlanta Jazz Festival a fun and safe event for all!

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About Atlanta Jazz Festival

The Atlanta Jazz Festival is regarded as one of the country’s largest free jazz festivals and invites music lovers from around the region to be immersed in jazz music culture. Mayor Maynard Jackson founded the festival to promote the art form that originated in the south. The Atlanta Jazz Festival is an annual musical showcase that celebrates jazz legends and features up-and-coming jazz performers with performances at Piedmont Park.

For more information, please visit www.atlantafestivals.com and follow Atlanta Jazz Festival on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Fans also can access information on the go by visiting the mobile channel, ATLJazzFest.com, from their smart device.

Seeking Panelists for 2021-2022 Contracts for Arts Services Grant Cycle

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) is seeking Atlanta art leaders, business professionals and community members who are interested in serving on the Contracts for Arts Services grant advisory panels for the 2021-2022 funding cycle.  Applications are due by August 13, 2021.

Panelists play a vital role in reviewing grant proposals and supporting OCA’s mission of granting public funding to the arts.

For details and Panelist Guidelines & Applications, click tinyurl.com/contractsforartsservices or contact the Contracts for Arts Services Program Manager, Brittnee Buley, at bjbuley@atlantaga.gov.

OCA Seeks Proposals from Atlanta Artists for 2021-2022 Grant Cycle

The City of Atlanta – Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs’ Contracts for Arts Services (CAS) program is now accepting submissions from Atlanta artists for the 2021-2022 grant cycle.

Each year, CAS awards contracts to individual artists within the City of Atlanta. Eligible artists interested in these funding opportunities have until 11:59 pm on Friday, August 20, 2021, to apply for funding.

First-time applicants must attend a virtual workshop covering the submission process.

The final virtual workshop will be held on August 12, 2021 at 3:00 PM via Microsoft Teams.  You must RSVP to attend. Click here to RSVP.

Applications will be accepted in the following categories:

 

For more information on the artist virtual workshop, access to the application and guidelines, click here or contact the Contracts for Arts Services Program Manager Brittnee Buley at bjbuley@atlantaga.gov.

CALL FOR ARTISTS: OCA Seeks Project Proposals for ELEVATE 2021

The City of Atlanta, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) is seeking project proposals for its annual Public Art festival, ELEVATE.

This year, ELEVATE will take place each weekend in September & October in various neighborhoods around Atlanta with a focus on the theme, Reopen, Reignite, Reconnect.

The OCA is seeking proposals for all artforms from Atlanta based artists and arts organizations.

Click below for details and requirements:
https://www.elevateatlart.com/callforproposals

Submission Deadline is 5:00 PM EST, August 20, 2021.

31 Days of Jazz Event Calendar

Of course you’re coming  out to the Atlanta Jazz Festival on Memorial Day Weekend in Piedmont Park…but come out to any of our 31 Days of Jazz events and enjoy all that the City has to offer! Check out our event calendar here!

Don’t forget to bookmark our mobile channel at http://www.atljazzfest.com/ for up-to-date festival and park information!

ArtsATL Highlights OCA Executive Director, Camille Russell Love

As a part of their ‘Legacy Series’, ArtsATL and Gail O’Neill highlight the City of Atlanta’s Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs’ Executive Director, Camille Russell Love on her decades-old mission to keep culture in the city. Click here to read full article.

[WATCH]:

OCA Newsletter :: April 2018

 

April Newsletter

 

ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL RELEASES FULL LINEUP OF 2018 ARTISTS

Highlights include Jon Batiste with The Dap-Kings, Dianne Reeves, The Bad Plus and Jazzmeia Horn, to name a few.

In a video announcement released Tuesday March 27, 2018, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms revealed the artist lineup for the 41st annual Atlanta Jazz Festival. The lineup includes a variety of jazz sounds and stylings presented on three stages: The Legends Stage, The Contemporary Stage and The Next Gen Stage. The country’s longest running free jazz festival will take place for two days over Memorial Day Weekend: Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27, in Piedmont Park. For the first time in the event’s history, Saturday will feature a special all-female jazz lineup.

Restoration of Homage to St. Eom’s Pasaquan

The Office of Cultural Affairs is pleased to announce the completion of the Homage to St. EOM’s Pasaquan artwork restoration. The artwork was created by the late Eddie Owens Martin as a part of Folk Art Park during the 1996 Olympics. The piece pays homage to the original work located in Buena Vista, Ga. The Homage to St EOM’s Pasaquan incorporated large cast-concrete totems painted in vibrant colors, surrounded by brightly-painted mandala designs that vaguely reference Pacific-Islander sculpture and aboriginal artwork. The City of Atlanta provides stewardship to the piece and was made possible through the generous help of the Community Foundation, GPC Renovations, and artists: Jan Riley, Addison Adams, and Adrian Barzaga. The site is expected to be open to the public Mid-April.


Emerging Artist’s Exhibition Opening Reception

April 12th, 2018 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs presents this year’s Emerging Artist Exhibition, the opening reception  of the exhibit will be held Thursday, April 12th from 6 – 8 PM at the Chastain Arts Center. This exhibit is designed to support practicing artists residing in the City of Atlanta. The public is invited to come meet this year’s recipients: Charlina Rose Smith, Bella Dorado, and Lauren Peterson. Come out and support these local artists!

Ernest G. Welch Fellows MFA Exhibitions

April 2nd – April 6th

Maryam Palizgir’s : “Folded Mystery”
 
Folded Mystery project is the metaphors for how we exchange knowledge, how perception widens our perspective, and how observation deepens our understanding of the reality in which we live. I seek works of art that activate once the viewer is involved. Folded Mystery is about challenging viewers’ perception and multi-perception embodiment through 2D and 3D drawings, sculptural paintings installations focusing on the interaction of geometric abstract forms, colors, reflective objects and layering grid-like materials in space. I intend to focus on the complexity of space by making sculptural installations that allow me to look into and through things. I also bring photography into this exchange. I am preoccupied with finding new ways of seeing through the experimental cross-fertilization of drawing, sculpture, and photography, which stimulated a philosophically oriented questioning of vision and perception.

Aaron Kagan Putt’s “Another Failed Attempt”
 
Aaron Kagan Putt was raised in the dry heat and saguaro speckled landscape of Tucson, Arizona, not far from the border with Mexico. He ventured often between these divided territories, developing an intense interest in travel and cultural hybridity. Much of his work investigates the intersection between culture and its material manifestations on the landscape.
 
The works in Another Failed Attempt explores the impulse to manipulate material and forms as a means to achieve personal and societal transformation. Adopting a hybrid and nomadic form, this series of sculptures and paintings probe themes of utopian architecture, self-improvement and the human desire to memorialize.
 
Putt has been awarded grants by the Minnesota State Arts Board and his work has been exhibited internationally. He lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia and is currently a Master of Fine Arts and Master of Art History candidate at the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design at Georgia State University.

Elyse Defoor “Unbridled” 
April 12th –June 7th 2018

On April 12th, 2018 Artist Elyse Defoor’s exhibition “Unbridled” opens at Gallery 72.   “Unbridled” features bodies of work in sculpture, photography, and other media, that explore the emotional dichotomies of the human experience through meditations on marriage, restraint, death, rebirth and unbounded freedom. Through the creative use of ceremonial and mundane materials Defoor brings the viewer into spaces of mythic resonance and lived memory.
 

Art & Urban Resilience Discussion Panel and Reception
April 18th , 2018 6:30 pm to  11 pm

Over the recent years, the global community established a political and social trajectory of development known as the sustainability movement. The sustainability approach to development integrates dimensions of economic growth, social cohesion, and resilience. They are captured under 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the global community at the United Nations in September, 2015. Among the specific goals are: Goal 3 – Good health and Well-being for People, Goal 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 12- Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13 – Climate Action. The goals among other embed universal ambition of preserving the world we live in for future generations.
 
Atlanta  is no stranger to these ambitions, in fact, it has recently joined the 100 Resilient Cities campaign and adopted a resilience strategy that pursues the vision of sustainable growth in Atlanta’s local context. What is unique about the vision is the very key role that art and culture occupy. Art and Culture become vehicles to achieve ambitions of resilience urban future of Atlanta, ready to absorb acute and chronic shocks and disasters – from environmental degradation to racial inequality, and urban sprawl. The role of art and culture in defining the progressive direction of Atlanta’s growth is very distinct from other urban centers. From civil rights movement and socio-political change to Captain Planet and the environmental movement, art held a key role in promoting grassroots driven behavioral and political change in Atlanta city context. This trend is still very much alive today among the existing artist community in Atlanta, who create public a (community) art within the local and global themes of social cohesion, development, and environmental protection.
 
Building on the historical contributions of art to change, the Urban Catalyst Lab and the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs is putting together a local and global expert panel to discuss the role and capacity of art to address the current global and local issues of development, and to initiate and facilitate social, behavioral and political change. Using concrete current and historic, local and global examples, the panel will explore the role of arts in building urban resilience and sustainability, and show the inherent link between art and sustainable urban growth.
 
The panel will include the recent local to global art community intervention in Johns Creek, a focus on the past and  current exhibitions at Gallery 72,  and the development of the upcoming art + urban resilience lab,
 
The panel will engage speakers from Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Office Resilience, local and international artists to discuss how art, policy and change align to achieve sustainable urban future.

The panelists include: 
William Massey: Atlanta based artist, ColorATL
Hanif Kureshi: Indian artist, S+art Delhi Street art Festival
Kevin Sipp: Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
Michelle Wiseman: Mayor’s Office of Resilience
Lynda Smith: Johns Creek Convention and Visitors Bureau
Ruxanda Renita & Ana Gabriele Sabancevaite: Urban Catalyst Lab

RECEPTIN PARTY
Virtual Reality Art by Jessica Anderson
Music by DJ Stan Zeff 

Contracts For Arts Services Application Workshops

Call For Panelists for 2019 Grant Cycle

Contract For Arts Services Emerging Artists Award Recipients

April 12th, 2018 6:30pm – 8:00pm

On Thursday, April 12th at the Chastain Art Center Gallery from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs will recognize three Emerging Artist Award recipients in the categories of Dance and Visual Arts. The artists will be honored with a reception and an exhibition of their work.

Each year, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs through the Contracts for Arts Services program recognizes rising stars in the arts through the Emerging Artist Award which promotes the work of professional artists of notable talent and ability living and creating are within the city of Atlanta.

This year’s recipients are:

Gabriella “Bella” Dorado
Bella Dorado is a choreographer, performing artist, educator, and producer. Her movement is characterized by a driving sinuous flow and explorations of vulnerability and the dark places full of risk and magic. Learn more about the artist by visiting her website.

Lauren Peterson
Lauren Peterson is an interdisciplinary artist who creates new systems for devalued objects, focusing on the potential ontological ramifications of a consumption-based society. Learn more about the artist by visiting her website.

Charlina “Rose” Smith
Rose uses photography for activism, to discuss social issues that reflect the present time, and to tell the story of the black experience in America. Learn more about the artist by visiting her website.

OCA Selected as Winners of KaBOOM! Play Everywhere Challege

On Saturday, March 3rd , The Play Everywhere Tour, powered by KaBOOM! and Target, visited Atlanta, bringing families and kids together for FREE, fun-filled family play. As part of the Tour, the Play Everywhere Challenge winners were announced, awarding $720,000 in total grants for creative projects that encourage play in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Miami. The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs has been selected a Play Everywhere Challenge winner. We have been awarded a $25,000 to help support our project “John Lewis’s Ride to Freedom.” The project includes incorporating a play space on the PATH Trail in Freedom Park near “The Bridge” artwork dedicated to Congressman John Lewis. The play space will focus on the 1961 Freedom Riders Route from Washington, DC to New Orleans, LA. An artist derived play-scape on the PATH trail would consist of outlines of states the Freedom Riders traveled incorporating games and activities for kids to follow the Freedom Riders path. The second element will be a bus play structure to represent the Freedom Rider’s bus. The bus will allow for several kids to play at a time, while also engaging them in facts about the Freedom Riders and significant events along the route. The families in the area, as well as other visitors, will have a place to play and exercise while also learning about one of the greatest civil rights leaders; Congressman John Lewis. KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving all kids the childhood they deserve through great, safe places to play. The Play Everywhere Challenge and Tour are part of a broader effort led by KaBOOM! and Target focused on engaging communities to help families make active play a part of everyday life. By the end of the year, KaBOOM! and Target will bring more than 260 new playspaces to life, reaching more than a half-million kids across

Hooked on Books
With
Whiskey & Ribbons

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Human Resources hosted critically acclaimed author, Leesa Cross-Smith to introduce her first novel, Whiskey & Ribbons. Cross- Smith concluded her week in Atlanta by engaging with City of Atlanta employees in a brief conversation and book signing. She talked about the structure of the novel, how she has written it as “a fuge… a piece of music with three voices and three narrators. I’ve written the book for black women.” Whiskey & Ribbons is told in three intertwining, melodic voices: Evi in present day, as she’s snowed in with Dalton during a freak blizzard; Eamon before his murder, as he prepares for impending fatherhood and grapples with the danger of his profession; and Dalton, as he struggles to make sense of his life next to Eamon’s, and as he decides to track down the biological father he’s never known. If you missed Leesa Cross-Smith during her time in Atlanta, there is another opportunity to hear more about Whiskey & Ribbons and meet Leesa, at the Decatur Book Festival August 31 – September 2, 2018. Learn more about this wonderful author, her warm and bright spirit, and other works of fiction here.

Buried Truths

In 1948, three black farmers decided they’d had enough. They were going to vote in rural South Georgia, where white supremacists held power by suppressing the black vote. Pulitzer-Prize winning author, journalist and Emory University professor Hank Klibanoff explores the mysteries and injustices of history through civil rights cases that few have seen.  How far would white supremacists go — on the streets, in the courtrooms, in the legislatures — to preserve their racial dominance? And, most importantly, why? Who were we back then? The truth is restless, relevant and revealed.

Click here for more information. 



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Jazz Appreciation Month (Learn More…)

Jazz Appreciation Month (fondly known as “JAM”) was created at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 2001 to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz for the entire month of April.

JAM is intended to stimulate and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz – to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and more.

Jazz Appreciation Month 2018: Jazz and Justice

This year, JAM celebrates the relationship between jazz and justice by looking beyond the music to the dynamic ways jazz has played a transformative role in social justice, musician’s rights, and equality since its birth in America. For the first time JAM will not feature a musician but instead hightlight “one of the most influential nonmusicians in jazz history,” producer Norman Granz, and his work as an innovative producer, tireless promoter for his musicians, and uncompromising advocate for civil rights.

Ways to Celebrate Jazz, Both Inside and Outside of the Classroom

Looking for ideas and other ways to celebrate jazz during April and year-round? Find the category that best suits you or your organization and read through some of our favorite ways to celebrate and participate with jazz:

Individuals:

Teachers | Students | Parents | Band Directors | Fans | Musicians | Historians | Collectors | Philanthropists

Organizations:

Libraries | Churches | Jazz Societies | Museums & Historical Societies | Performing Arts Organizations | Foundations | Public Radio Stations

2018 JAM Poster: Jazz and Justice

The 2018 Jazz Appreciation Month Poster is the second in a special three-year series featuring the center section of LeRoy Neiman’s Big Band, a large-scale painting that hangs on the first floor of the National Museum of American History. The JAM Posters from 2017 and 2019 feature the left and right side of the painting respectively, so that when all three are hung next to each other, the iconic painting can be recreated! Big Band is a gift of the LeRoy Neiman Foundation.Part Two of the Big Band JAM Poster Series (2017-2019)

This year, JAM invites all jazz fans and appreciators to look beyond the music to the dynamic ways jazz has played a transformative role in social justice, musicians’ rights, and equality. Our featured JAM artist this year, producer Norman Granz, devoted his life to civil rights and equality – within the music industry and beyond. Through numerous record labels and his iconic touring show, Jazz at the Philharmonic, he helped propel many jazz musicians to greatness. Fittingly, all the musicians featured in this section of the JAM poster had careers that overlapped or were influenced by Norman Granz: