Atlanta BeltLine releases 2012 list of artists and performers for fall season

Posted in Latest Reports

Date: July 23rd, 2012, 3:19 pm

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta BeltLine has selected dozens of artists and innovative works to be part of its fall season of public art — 70 innovative works of performance and visual art.

The annual, two-month-long exhibition has become is not only the largest temporary public art project in the city; it also is one of the most popular attractions of people who enjoy traveling the BeltLine.

According to a press release, the art installations will cover nine miles of paved and interim hiking trails of the 22-mile loop of historic and mostly abandoned rail around the heart of the city.

The exhibit will feature new and returning artists as well as established and emerging arts. They will stage vibrant installations and performances, inviting the public out to explore this emerging system of parks, trails, transit, and development in the southwest, southeast, and northeast sections of Atlanta.

There were 181 proposals submitted with 74 visual and performance pieces selected to become part of the exhibit, more than a 40 percent increase over 2010 when the project began. Artistic mediums include sculpture, murals, dance, theater, outdoor concerts, parades, performance art, and more.

“Public art is a fundamental component to the Atlanta BeltLine project,” said Brian Leary, president and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, in a statement. “We know that this will be the biggest and best exhibition yet and are especially excited to see ‘Art on the Atlanta BeltLine’ continue to highlight the ever-developing Atlanta BeltLine corridor.”

Camille Russell Love, director of the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs, said the city is proud to support the exhibit for the third year in a row.

“In the previous two years, we have seen the positive impact this temporary art exhibition has on the selected artists and on the Atlanta residents who interact with art along the Atlanta BeltLine parks and trails,” Love said.

The presenting sponsor of the 2012 “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine: is U.S. Micro, a leader in the disposition of information technology assets for companies and government agencies.

From September through November, visual installations and performances will be concentrated in the following areas along the Atlanta BeltLine:

· West side – From Gordon White Park north to Washington Park

· West side – From Allene Avenue to Lee Street

· Northeast side – From Montgomery Ferry Drive (behind Ansley Mall) south to Irwin Street / Lake Avenue

· Southeast side – From Wiley Street south to Memorial Drive

Please see below for the full list of artists selected for the 2012 exhibition.

Performance Art

Taranji L. Alvarado

Crossover Movement Arts

Emily Christianson

Park Cofield & Co.

Henry Detweiler and Christ, Lord

The Dojo Collective

Past Prime Players

Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery

Tara Hemmer

Gateway Performance Productions

Trevor Jones and the Collective Project

Spiral of Sound Crystal Bowl Choir

Klimchak with Stuart Gerber, Olivia Kieffer and Isaac Anderson

Santiago Paramo

Imaginary Menagerie Productions

Krewe of Grateful Gluttons

Otis Alexander Sallid

Priscilla Smith

Wade Tilton, Kevin Huey and the Ghost Project

Kebbi Williams Band with Strings and Michael Atwood Fergeson

Visual Art

Adron

Aaron Albrecht

Bryan Alcorn

LaMar Barber

Cash Barnes

Geoffrey Bartlett

Christopher Bivins

Hadley Breckenridge

Kyle Brooks

Neil Carver

Misao Cates

Susan Champeny

Jac Coffey

earth muse art

The Experience Collective

Michael Tod Edgerton

Virginia Byers and Aria Finkelstein

The Knitterati

Chris Higgins

Gyun Hur

Machiko Ichihara

Andre James

Mike Jensen

RAUM

Brady King

JD Koth

Elia Green, Queue Kufalk, David Carlock and Caden Newcome

David Landis

Pam Longobardi

Cecilia Lueza

Casey Lynch

Christopher Martin

Ryan Mathern and Cecilia Marrero

Santiago Menendez

Mariam Mojdehi

Laura Noel

Carol Rankin

Alex Rodriguez

The Loss Prevention Collective

Karen Shacham and Michael Carpenter

Tarver Siebert

Jason Smith

Geoffrey Smith

Leslie Tharp

Teens of the Youth Art Connection facilitated by Gregor Turk

Joshua Wallman

Cathy Wise

Georgia State University, Department of Three Dimensional Studies facilitated by Mike Wsol

Harry Zmijewski

The Art on the Atlanta BeltLine schedule will be released later this summer. Please check art.beltline.org for updates about this year’s artists and exhibits as well as to view photos from previous exhibitions online. Information on access points and to see the permanent art collection is available on the Atlanta BeltLine interactive map.

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Burroughston Broch

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Is the BeltLine a public arts provider, a transportation system, or a spender of public funds on high living for unelected officials, as detailed in the AJC? It seems to want to be all three, and that's part of what bothers voters in the TSPLOST referendum. I for one don't want to pay sales tax to support public art and high living for unelected officials. TSPLOST gives voters no assurances that their investment won't be squandered on non-transportation related expenses.

TylerBlazer

@Burroughston Broch "I for one don't want to pay sales tax to support public art and high living for unelected officials."

You forget to note that public art is for taxpayers- aka "unelected officials". The City of Atlanta sure has a terrible reputation for public art (or lack thereof) so utilizing the Atlanta Beltline as means to produce such is a better means to deliver public art. Hiring a third-party organization has been done in many municipalities.

But blaming the failure of TSPLOST on the Beltline for a few questionable expenses (no more than $3000 - of which most has been reimbursed because they were previously mistaken to be reputable expenses - granted not ALL were) is pretty ignorant and won't get anything done. The Beltline has already publicly addressed these claims and has made changes to their organization accordingly.

Burroughston Broch

@TylerBlazer Public subsidy of the arts has no place in our government. Public officials and their unelected cronies decide which artists get subsidized and which don't. I don't want to pay taxes to subsidize your concept of art, and you don't want to pay to subsidize mine. I read Sunday that the ASO bemoans that they get only $115,000 in direct public subsidy. Truth be told, the Woodruff Center and its affilitated organizations suck up the major percentage of public subsidy in Atlanta and Fulton County.

I didn't vote for TSPLOST, and I don't blame its failure on the questionable expenses. The questionable expenses underscore a well-deserved public perception that the BeltLine is an unfocused and unmanaged organization with little or no oversight. No one in their right mind wants to give such an organization control over spending millions of taxpayer dollars.

The BeltLine expense tempest brings to mind a story from Tom Lehrer in the 1950s, "When I was at university I had a roommate who majored in animal husbandry, until they caught him at it." An organization that routinely accepts corruption on small things will do the same on big things. Yes, they have apologized, but only after they were found out.

Burroughston Broch

@TylerBlazer In part answer to your first question, I do not believe taxpayers should be forced to pay for any public art, regardless whether it is involved with the BeltLine or any other public project. If an artist providse art at no cost to the taxpayers, hoping that the taxpayers will buy some for themselves, then I wouldn't object.

I don't believe that the BeltLine should be funded by the taxpayers just because it has gathered pledges of financial support from non-public entities. I don't understand where you get the figure $1billion in investments from the private sector. From their website, they state that they kicked off a $60million capital campaign in 2007 and have raised $38million to date.

TylerBlazer

@Burroughston Broch So is your argument that taxpayers shouldn't pay for public art or that taxpayers shouldn't fund an organization that has provided well over $1 billion in investments from the private sector?

If you question the value of public art then you should question all other sorts of investments that involve public art - including the airport and the recent expansion that includes a significant amount of it, Centennial Olympic Park entails a ton of public art, any statues. memorials, etc erected by the city/state/etc would have had soem sort of taxpayer funding, the recently revealed playground at Woodruff Park is publicly funded as art. As public art pertains to the Atlanta Beltline:

"Art on the Atlanta BeltLine is produced by a working group of more than a dozen committed volunteers from Atlanta BeltLine neighborhoods, historic preservationists, and organizations such as WonderRoot, Eyedrum, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the City’s Office of Cultural Affairs, The Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, Atlanta City Council and the Fulton County Arts Council."

Many of which of those listed are volunteers, private institutions/organizations.

Art on the Atlanta Beltline draws interest from not only the local communities but also businesses and developers will see that it's more than a system of trails and green space -it's part of their marketing.

Now I agree that some of those expenses should be scrutinized and those responsible should be punished, but the actions of a few shouldn't dictate the results of an organization that has already created over 90 development projects within the corridor - which includes over $1 Billion in investments in the area within the last 7 years.

Burroughston Broch

@TylerBlazer Trees and landscaping are not nearly the same as public art, and they generate O2. You want to be green, don't you?

I don't care what foolish governments foist on taxpayers elsewhere. I draw the line at art paid for by the taxpayers without the taxpayer's specific consent.

I don't care what percentage those expenses were to the overall budget. Almost $500 for beer is still almost $500 for beer. Also, this is not the first time their abuse of spending has been documented in the AJC. That is part of why voters outside the City of Atlanta view the BeltLine as they do - a boondoggle when viewed as a transportation means.

I know of no private companies that would implement the BeltLine since they would receive zero return on investment.

TylerBlazer

@Burroughston Broch "Public subsidy of the arts has no place in our government."

So our government shouldn't be responsible for subsidizing the trees placed along the streets, nor the choice of materials used on the streetscape projects? What about the landscaping around the interchanges across the country? Our government shouldn't subsidize those? Those could be considered part of the arts that have been subsidized by the government. Where do you "draw the line"? Private companies surely could care less about providing public art on that scale - sure you'll find some here and there but that pales in comparison to what government subsidies have helped establish all across our country.

Also-- concerning the Beltline organization- Do you know what portion those expenses were "mismanaged" in the Atlanta Beltline compared to the overall budget? What other examples of mismanagement are you referring to from the BeltLine?

Do you know of any other private company or companies that would be able to support the construction and implementation of the BeltLine otheriwse ?

Trackbacks

Featured Artist – LaMar Barber » C4 Atlanta says:

September 10, 2012 at 6:17 pm

[...] is to be organizing a new set of decennial goals. LaMar was recently chosen to be a part of the Atlanta Beltline’s fall season of public art. To learn more about Atlanta artist LaMar Barber, visit lamarbarber.com. [...]