Excitement and curiosity are building in the Atlanta art community about the recently announced Atlanta Art Week, scheduled to take place September 29 through October 2. It’s being touted as the inaugural week, meaning that if it’s successful it will be held annually.
According to the initiative’s website, many of Atlanta’s well-known art spaces are scheduled to participate, among them Atlanta Contemporary, Bill Lowe Gallery, the High Museum of Art, Kai Lin Art, Marcia Wood Gallery, MINT, MOCA GA, September Gray Art Gallery and whitespace. Specific programming will be announced in August.
Kendra Walker, an art adviser and writer, is the founder-director. Walker says she anticipates galleries and museums will schedule receptions, artist talks, panels and other programming during the four-day event. She is also hoping Atlanta Art Week will attract collectors and art lovers from other cities and put Atlanta on the map as an art city. According to the event website, the initiative’s lead partner is Sutton, an arts communications firm with offices in New York, London and Hong Kong.
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Atlanta Contemporary is the only art organization in Georgia to receive a grant this summer from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. “It means a lot,” said Contemporary executive director Veronica Kessenich of the $100,000 award, which is part of the spring 2022 cycle of the foundation’s grants. “It’s affirmation of our curatorial approach that honors a diversity of artistic voices and curatorial leadership.” Fifty percent of the grant is to be used for administrative expenses, a pandemic-era allowance from the foundation that’s designed to contribute to long-term recovery and stability.
“We are pleased to support Atlanta Contemporary, which has been an important platform for contemporary visual arts in the Southeast for nearly 50 years,” said Rachel Bers, the foundation’s program director, in a press release. “Through guest-curated exhibitions, the organization connects with artistic communities across the southeast to highlight the full spectrum of experimental practice taking place in the region.”
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More than 30 art professors from colleges and universities throughout Georgia are showing their work in a juried exhibit at eyedrum Gallery July 16 through August 13. The show is juried by Michael Marling de Cuellar, a recently retired, tenured professor from the University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, and is the first leg of a three-part initiative. One artist from the exhibition will be chosen to receive an Award of Top Honor and will work toward a solo exhibit at eyedrum in 2023. The gallery is planning a 2024 juried group exhibition of work by MFA candidates in Georgia.
