commercial real estate owners to spearhead a program that made use of vacated office space. The result was a program that transformed those offices into artist studios. Midtown Alliance also commissioned seven artists in 2020 to create site-specific, temporary art installations in vacant storefronts in office buildings along Peachtree and 10th Streets. The artists, Shanequa Gay, Fabian Williams, Melissa Huang, Kaye Lee Patton, Chiomma Hall, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, and Kristan Woolford, represented Atlanta’s diversity both as individuals and artistically. These initiatives are two of four included in Midtown Alliance’s Heart of the Arts Program. Other activities included under the Heart of the Arts umbrella are public space installations and community programming. Heart of the Arts is an important example of how private money interfaces with public good. When Whole Foods decided to establish a presence in Midtown Atlanta, the property into which it moved, Icon Midtown, was built by The Related Group. Even before Related broke ground, the company’s Founder, Chairman & CEO, Jorge M. Pérez, reached out to local artist Alex Brewer (aka Hence), to begin conversations about public art for the property. Pérez, a serious art collector and for whom one of South Miami’s leading contemporary art museums is named, was committed from the beginning to ensuring that the project would contribute to Atlanta’s arts community and be a force for public good. Brewer’s piece, Connect, is over one hundred feet tall and makes a powerful statement in one of Atlanta’s premier locations. With an eye to the future, Atlanta is poised to build on its ever-developing blueprint for how to turn what some might see as urban sprawl into aesthetic goods and concrete resources for the city’s residents and artists. Atlanta’s most beloved hole in the ground, the Gulch, is such an opportunity. Gulch developers, Centennial Yards, enlisted Courtney Hammond, creative director of Dash Studios, to create a large-scale art installation in December 2021. Hammond and her team of 35 artists created Heartbeat ATL –a unique, interactive art light display that is a direct reference to the area’s historic role as the heartbeat (or hub) of Atlanta. From 1905 to 1970, the site was home to Atlanta’s iconic Terminal Station. The 1971 demolition literally tore out the city’s heart, as Hartfield-Jackson Airport had yet to emerge as the new hub. The artists created a work of art that signals renewed life, new opportunity, and growth. Hammond said that she wanted to create a piece that demonstrated how technology and artistry can coexist – the two are not mutually exclusive. And everfaithful to the city’s symbol, the Gulch is a Phoenix, of sorts, rising from its ashes to reclaim its past glory while leading Atlanta into yet another future.
Songs for Kids Center makes everyone a rock star
Photo by Mary Caroline Russell
By Clare S. Richie Located behind the Skyview Ferris Wheel in Downtown, The Songs for Kids Center provides free interactive music programing to qualified children and young adults. “If you or someone you know has an injury, illness or disability – we’re here to perform with you, teach you an instrument or skill, or invite you to have a sensory experience,” said Josh Rifkind, founder of Songs for Kids. The center houses a professional performance area, recording studio, and a DJ station. “It’s an extension of everything we’ve learned and do,” Rifkind said. “We have SFK mentors here six days a week. Families come in at all times. We just had a 22-year-old who was working on singing and drumming and now we have a 6-year-old who’s been coming here since she was 3.” Allison Russell, mom of the 6-year-old, learned of SFK when they performed at Camp Krazy Legs, a camp for children with spina bifida hosted at Camp Twin Lakes. Her daughter’s friends are starting extracurriculars and Russell likes that her daughter has a low-pressure activity that gives her a creative outlet, too. continued on page 50
At l a n t a I n t o w n Pa p e r. c o m
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