Say “Buckhead” and most Atlantans think of gleaming office towers, high-rise condos and high-end stores. But an art museum?
On June 16, Mark Karelson, owner of Mason Fine Art on Miami Circle, opened the PATH Museum, a noncollecting museum located on the ground floor of 3399 Peachtree, an office building that sits between Lenox Mall and the MARTA station. Karelson hopes the museum will help create a stronger visual arts footprint in Buckhead and beyond.
The opening exhibit was a selection of works from the private collection of octogenarian artist Larry Walker and his wife, Gwen Walker. It included pieces by Radcliffe Bailey, Kevin Cole, Charles White, Kara Walker (Larry’s daughter) and many others.
Karelson, owner, director and curator of the museum, understands the value of synergy. He simultaneously exhibited some of Larry Walker’s own work at Mason Fine Art in the solo show Enigmatic Messenger, which has been extended through August 10.
The next exhibit at the museum, If I Only Knew, will open on July 28 with works by Charly Palmer. Karelson first exhibited Palmer’s work at his gallery 20 years ago; those portraits then traveled to the Tubman African American Museum in Macon.
The PATH Museum occupies 3,000 square feet on the ground floor of 3399 Peachtree, at the far end of a long lobby graced with a high ceiling and tall bay windows.
The space used to be offices, and Karelson renovated it to his specifications. He inherited an outdoor patio and a small kitchen and has access to the lobby where a group of Marquetta Johnson’s brightly colored quilts are currently displayed as part of the museum.
The name of the museum is an acronym for Presenting Art That Heals, Karelson says. Education and participatory events are core values of his. He’s currently working on an educational project tied to the Palmer exhibit “to help young people recognize opportunities in life,” he says.
PATH also refers to PATH400, a pedestrian and biking thoroughfare that when complete will be a 5.2-mile greenway through Buckhead. One section of the path is already open; it connects Miami Circle with 3399 Peachtree.
The synergy couldn’t be more perfect. Plans are underway, Karelson says, to extend PATH400 from East Paces Ferry Road to Peachtree Road along Lenox Road; a boardwalk will run alongside the 3399 building, he says.
Buckhead and the visual arts are in Karelson’s DNA. He grew up in Buckhead and his mother, Gloria Karelson, who died in 2021, was a self-taught folk artist. In the early 1970s, she won first prize at the Lenox Square Art Show. Fay Gold, Atlanta’s now legendary gallerist, presented Gloria with the prize. On Mother’s Day this year, Karelson honored his mother by posting photos of her sculptures on his folk and outsider art Instagram account, which has more than 111,000 followers.
“I lean toward artists who are overcoming great obstacles,” he says. “People in history who haven’t gotten what they deserve.”
Karelson is also known for his interest in historical photography, which will be part of the museum’s mission.
In October, he will present two shows that tie in with Atlanta Celebrates Photography. The PATH Museum will exhibit photos by Atlanta photographers Susan J. Ross and Jim Alexander, while the historical work of P.H. Polk (1898-1984) and his mentee, Chester Higgins Jr., will be shown at Mason Fine Art.
Karelson is pleased that the second annual Atlanta Art Week, founded by Kendra Walker (no relation to Larry and Kara), will also take place in October, bringing people and the fine arts together in multiple locations, including his two venues.
In early 2024, Atlanta artists Tracy Murrell and rEN Dillard will co-curate a show at the museum about the next 100 years of Afrofuturism.
Karelson is tight-lipped about funding for the PATH Museum and will say only that a generous philanthropist is involved. But the commitment is there, he says.
Buckhead, and Atlanta in general, have lagged behind other similarly sized cities when it comes to developing a vibrant visual arts scene. “It’s been about to happen many times,” Karelson says.
He has energy, expertise and a lifelong knowledge of Atlanta’s visual arts, but Karelson knows that developing the city as a world-class art destination is a long-haul proposition that requires community commitment. And money.
“What Atlanta needs now is the one or two eccentric billionaires who are dedicated to the arts,” he says. “I know they’re here.”
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Gillian Anne Renault has been an ArtsATL contributor since 2012 and Senior Editor for Art+Design and Dance since 2021. She has covered dance for the Los Angeles Daily News, Herald Examiner and Ballet News and on radio stations such as KCRW, the NPR affiliate in Santa Monica, California. Many years ago, she was awarded an NEA fellowship to attend American Dance Festival’s Dance Criticism program.
