An
Artistic Journey
with Aaron Reed
By Ki Ki Hobbs
The Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce and the 2024 ArtiGras poster artist, Aaron Reed, are hoping to put a new twist on the commemorative artwork. When the Chamber’s Director of Events, Brian Elkins, was looking for someone to design this year’s poster, he knew he wanted an abstract artist, and Reed, a self-taught painter from Albany, Georgia, seemed like the perfect choice. “When I found him, [his art style] was exactly what I was looking for,” Elkins says. When the Chamber called and asked Reed if he would like to design this year’s commemorative poster, Reed says he had a two-word response: Of course. “Why would you say no?” he joked. For Reed, the decision was a no-brainer. He says designing this year’s poster would be a great way to increase his exposure by putting his artwork in front of ArtiGras patrons who might be unfamiliar with his work. He also says it would be a great way to introduce ArtiGras fans to a different style of art. 6
SIGNATURE CITY: City of Palm Beach Gardens
l pbgfl.com
“I really wanted to push the envelope. To do something totally different. To look at art in a different light,” he explains. In recent years, many of the ArtiGras commemorative posters had a distinctly tropical theme with art featuring palm trees, flowers, animals, or waterways. “They were beautiful pieces,” Reed says, but he wanted to create something patrons might not already have in their own collections. That’s a sentiment echoed by Elkin, who says it’s one of the main reasons the Chamber picked Reed to design this year’s poster.
