Inside the Arts

WHAT IS LEFT UNSPOKEN, LOVE

What Is Left Unspoken, Love will present contemporary artworks that address the different ways the most important thing in life—love—is expressed. As poet and painter Etel Adnan wrote, love is “not to be described, it is to be lived.” The exhibition will feature nearly seventy works, including paintings, sculpture, photography, video, and media art, by more than thirty-five international artists.

MAR. 25–AUG. 14 | HIGH MUSEUM OF ART | HIGH.ORG

What Is Left Unspoken, Love is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

FUNDING PROVIDED BY THE

Taylor Family Fund

PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES SPONSOR PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS

ACT Foundation, Inc. Sarah and Jim Kennedy Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot Dr. Joan H. Weens Estate

BENEFACTOR EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS

Robin and Hilton Howell

Rashid Johnson (American, born 1977), The Hikers (detail), 2019, 16mm film transferred to digital video with sound, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, anonymous gift, 2021.171. © Rashid Johnson.

Camille Russell Love

Camille Russell Love Love has been executive director of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (@atlantaoca) for more than two decades.

For many of us who grew up in or relocated to a major U.S. city, public art is something we take for granted. One thinks immediately of New York City’s Graffiti Hall of Fame, Philadelphia’s “We the Truth” mural painted by the late Keith Haring, Chicago’s West

Loop neighborhood, the Market Street community in San Francisco, Seattle’s Center Mural Amphitheatre, the famous “Hi, How Are You?” mural in Austin, and, of course, the proliferation of public art along the Atlanta Beltline.

In its purest sense, public art was born at the same time the country was founded. Early architecture (vernacular and traditional), monuments (sculptures, fountains, and the like), and more mundane artifacts (streetlamps, door knockers, hitching posts, boot scrapers, etc.), defined a certain aesthetic unique to the period. In their totality, these objects – conceptualized, designed, and executed by individuals of the era – at once reflected and influenced the citizenry. The same remains true now. That aside, the term public art, and more specifically the field, came into its own in the 1960s. Today, public art includes not only architecture and sculpture, but also includes painting, stained glass, ceramics, mosaics, tapestry, earthworks, assemblages, performance, and installations.

Over the past two decades, Atlanta’s public art scene has exploded. Initially confined to the fringes of the city, most notably the Krog Street area, one can barely go a few miles without seeing a mural, a bike rack, an installation, a sculpture, or some other form of artwork. It truly is phenomenal. But who pays for all this amazing art and how are the artists supported?

To significant fanfare, railroad giant Norfolk Southern opened its new headquarters in Atlanta in November 2021. The company’s website references “Thoroughbred Art” – art that supports industry, is innovative, and is inclusive. Norfolk Southern corporate culture has long supported art, as they feel it is important for employees to enjoy it and feel proud of their workplace. Moreover, the artwork that hangs in the new headquarters embodies the

company’s values and represents governing principles developed by its art committee: persevering, dynamic, principled. In addition, Norfolk Southern created an artist-in-residence program. Beginning this year, the artists selected will enjoy a twoyear residency and have studio space on Norfolk Southern’s 3.4-acre Tech Square campus. The catch? Each artist must create a piece of art for Norfolk Southern.

As is true in many cities across the country, Atlanta is home to several Community Improvement Districts (CID) – nonprofit entities funded by area property owners through special assessments paid on commercial properties. And while a key responsibility of CIDs is to tackle issues of importance to property owners, CIDs also bring together public and private monies to benefit the public good. One such partnership is that between the Midtown Improvement District (MID) and Midtown Alliance.

As office workers isolated at home during the height of the pandemic, Midtown Alliance worked with

Want to Quit Smo oking?

• Volunteers are needed for a paid research study.

• This study helps participants quit smoking by providing free nicotine patches and quitting advice.

Contact us to learn more: (404) 413 - 9308 Healthyliving@gsu.edu

• Nicotine patches and quitting advice are offered for free as part of this study. Participants must be at least 18 years old, smoke cigarettes, and be interested in quitting. • The study involves completing surveys that take up to 10 hours over about 6 months and coming to Georgia State

University a few times over the course of the study. Some participants may also be asked to join online groups. It is being conducted by Dr. Claire Spears at Georgia State

University (140 Decatur St. SE, Atlanta GA). Participants are paid for their time. • Participants will be paid for their time. Artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya with her mural on 10th Street created as part of Midtown’s Heart of the Arts program. (Photo by Collin Kelley)