Cities across the state are tapping into their creative sides and using what was once considered blank walls and dull spaces as canvases. Artists have used outdoor spaces in Georgia’s cities to create unexpected, eye-capturing masterpieces, including Fahamu Pecou, the lead artist who created the “Rise Above…” mural, which is featured on the cover of this issue of Georgia’s Cities. This large-scale public piece, which is located at the King Memorial Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) station in Atlanta, was the first of four that Pecou created at stations across the city.
This art installation, which soars high above the ground and depicts a young man enjoying a joyful leap and accompanied by a rainbow of birds flying from the soles of his sneakers, is a part of Artbound, MARTA’s public art program. Launched in 2017, there are three main components to the program: permanent and temporary visual arts, performing arts, and a conservation program to maintain and restore existing artworks. Instead of presenting an image of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which many anticipated, Pecou decided to celebrate the words of Dr. King by paraphrasing one of his quotes, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
Artbound Program Director Katherine Dirga boasts the power of public art and encourages cities to use their natural resources, local artists and community canvasses as inspiration.
“The real value of public art is in the people it inspires to see their community in a different way—or even to see themselves in a different way,” she said. “Engage the community as much as you possibly can, and they will be your biggest champions.”
Public art is not limited to metro-Atlanta cities and can be found sprinkled everywhere. Explore Georgia shares a list of public art:
- On the wall outside Young Brothers Pharmacy in Downtown Cartersville is the first outdoor painted wall advertisement for the Coca-Cola company. Visitors to the site are encouraged to find the flaw in this landmark.
- The city of Colquitt is home to the Millennium Murals that feature Georgia’s official folk life play “Swamp Gravy.”
- As the official home of “Gone with the Wind,” the city of Jonesboro has a vivid mural of Scarlett O’Hara. The city also offers a vibrant mural of Jesse Fuller, the one-man-band musician from Jonesboro who was best known for his song “San Francisco Blues.”
- More than two dozen murals in downtown Lakeland depict scenes of Milltown in 1925, the year the com- munity was renamed Lakeland.
- The Tree Spirit on St. Simons Island shows that not all street art is on buildings. The St. Simons Island tree spirits are carved into the ancient live oaks around town.