Charles Franklin, Kasim Reed Creative Arts Mixer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 7, 2009 Contact: Jesse Mills 443.538.4255 j.mills@mconsultingfirm.com Charles Franklin to Present Custom Portrait for Atlanta Mayoral Candidate, Kasim Reed at Creative Arts Mixer Atlanta, GA – Celebrity Illustrator, Charles Franklin is will be presenting Atlanta Mayoral Candidate, Kasim Reed with a custom art portrait at the Creative Arts Community Mixer which will take place on Tuesday, June 16 th from 6pm to 8pm at the new Artmore Hotel in the heart of Atlanta's Midtown Cultural Arts District. The custom portrait created for Mr. Reed is entitled, “Young Leadership @ It’s Best.”

“It will be an honor to present Kasim Reed with a custom portrait, by hosting this mixer he provides a great forum to project the integral role that creative arts contributions have on Atlanta’s culture,” said Charles Franklin. “This piece is a token of my appreciation for his distinguished civic leadership, support of independent visual artists like me and the entire arts community.”

The mixer will be free and open to the public for any guests to attend and will provide an open platform for the members of the creative community to verbally engage with Mr. Reed. There will be featured artwork on hand by Mr. Franklin as well as other local Atlanta artists. The host committee for the event includes: The High Museum of Art Atlanta, Kevin “DJ Kemit” Hyman and Public Relations executives, Jen Farris and Saniyyah Griffin.

About Charles Franklin: Charles Franklin creates dramatic visual celebrity portrait montages, trendy paparazzi figures, action-adventure illustrations and glamour portraiture in a variety of mediums for notable elected officials, key influencers and institutions.

Some of his clients include: Sean “Diddy” Combs, Oprah Winfrey, Kenny Burns, US Congressmen, Professional Athletes, Morehouse College, Harvard University and many others. Mr. Franklin is a graduate of Troy State University and has had training at Savannah College of Art & Design and Alabama State University.

For more information on Charles Franklin & RSVP please visit: http://www.cfranklin.com About Kasim Reed: Atlanta Mayoral Candidate, Sen. Kasim Reed was first elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1998 as State Representative for District 52. Sen. Reed has continued his successful leadership in the State Senate, where he has served since 2002. As a partner at Holland & Knight LLP, an international law firm with offices in Atlanta, Sen. Kasim Reed’s civic leadership and service has been nationally recognized such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Washington Post, New York Times, Ebony and Black Enterprise. He is a Board Member of the Howard University Board of Trustees, the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund, the National Black Arts Festival and the Midtown Alliance. He was selected as one of Georgia Trend magazine's "40 under 40 Rising Stars" in 2001, as one of the Fulton County Daily Report's "Lawyers on the Rise" and as one of "10 Outstanding Atlantans" by Outstanding Atlanta.

For more information on Kasim Reed please visit: http://www.kasimreed.com ###