Culture Surfing

Beltline officials have issued a Call for Artists to submit work and proposals for public art displays along eight miles of the loop of parks, trails and — cross your fingers — transit. On Friday, officials will hold a final workshop in West End to brief talented folk who might be interested.

Some good news: Limited funding is available for some of the projects, which could include sculptures, performance art or the innovative reuse of existing Beltline features. We’re proposing a puppet show about last year’s mayoral elections, staged in the windows of an abandoned single-family residential home. Don’t steal our idea.

The exhibition — which will be held in stretches between Piedmont Park and DeKalb Avenue, Wylie Street and Glenwood Avenue, and Washington Park and Allene Avenue — will officially open in June and continue until October.

You’ve got until March 12 to submit your proposal. If you’re interested, be sure to stop by this Friday at 6 p.m. at the West End Performing Arts Center on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard in southwest Atlanta. More info about the Beltline’s public arts program is available here.

The full email to community leaders from the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs is pasted after the jump.

Continue reading “Final Beltline public art workshop is on Friday” »

Bookmark It

All day Sunday, a small cadre of local artists and arts lovers gathered at Eyedrum to kick off the first phase of a grassroots project to add a touch of art to the Beltline — and to make more people aware of where it is.

The project, which has been months in the making, involves creating more than 100 artful signs to designate where the 22-mile smart-growth project crosses public streets.

Angel Poventud, one of the project’s co-organizers, says WonderRoot staff spent $400 on wood on Saturday night. The next day, artists brought whatever materials they had — oils, pastels, even house paint — and got to work.

“It’s hard to believe you can pull off a project like this for less than a grand,” Poventud says. “But it’s all about the passion. And it’s here.”

The group plans to install the signs along the project sometime this week.

Continue reading “WonderRoot’s public-art project for Beltline kicks off at Eyedrum” »

Bookmark It