By Operation HOPE The only true international city in the South, Atlanta is home to some of the most successful entrepreneurs and minority-owned businesses. A city where innovation and the economy thrive, Atlanta has for so long been recognized as one of the top American cities for minorities, particularly African-Americans, to become financially secure. However, […]
Author Archives: Thought Leader
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
What is Creative Placemaking?
By Brandon Jones, WonderRoot There’s never a shortage of new buzz words circulating the community development sector that energize Grantmakers, provide marketing wins for capital developers, and force administrators to re-strategize programmatic efforts. The recent decade has given way to terms such as placemaking, creative placemaking, place-keeper, etc. All of which, providing significant contributions to […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
Atlanta’s Extraordinary Talent
By Donya K. Washington, Alliance Theatre Off-site Season Producer Just when I think the folks who work in production can’t impress me anymore, they do. This past year, the Alliance Theatre moved from venue to venue while our space was being renovated – no two venues alike, all with different requirements for our production and […]
Posted inFinancial Inclusion, Thought Leader
In The New Atlanta – The Color is Increasingly Green
By John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman & CEO | Operation HOPE, Inc. I keep saying Atlanta is a magical city. Magical for many reasons — including its rich civil rights and social justice history for one — but ‘opportunity (available) for all’ is a strong second reason. In the midst of an emerging 20th century America, the […]
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Art enhancing Atlanta's MARTA Stations
By Matt Terrell, Dad’s Garage Major praise deserves to go to Midtown Alliance for their latest public art collaboration with MARTA’s Midtown Station. The work is focused on a new mural, “Confluence: Burst Forth with A Terrific Noise,” created by Atlanta based artist Andrew Catanese. The mural features Catanese’s signature style of brightly colored organic […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
Leadership Trainings Builds Stronger Arts Communities
By Lara Smith, Managing Director of Dads GaragePeek into the business world and you’ll see executive of all types enrolling in leadership training courses. Listen to the radio and you’ll inevitably hear calls to enroll in some weekend course on leadership: Leadership for Women, Leading your Sales Team, Leading other Leaders, etc. You can take […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
What Happens When One of Your Favorite Rappers Joins the Board of an Art Museum?
By Ariel Thilenius, The Woodruff Arts Center Earlier this month, I opened up my Google Alerts to see that one of my favorite rappers, Killer Mike, had joined the board of directors for Atlanta’s own High Museum of Art. I was surprised (although extremely excited) by this news, and eagerly clicked the link to an […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
The State of the Arts in Atlanta
By Doug Shipman, President and CEO of The Woodruff “How’s your new job at The Woodruff?”I get asked this question a lot.It’s been a full year since I had the pleasure of joining The Woodruff Arts Center as President and CEO, and given that the it’s the first anniversary of the “new” job—it felt like […]
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Let's Keep Little Five Points Weird
By Matt Terrell (of Dad’s Garage)I firmly believe that a city of our size needs a neighborhood for artists, punks, goths, emos, street poets, and other weirdos to congregate. What makes a community vibrant is the range of people and experiences that that define life there. Not everyone in our society is meant to be […]
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Operation HOPE receives fourth consecutive 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator
Global financial dignity and economic empowerment nonprofit Operation HOPE, Inc. has received its fourth consecutive 4-star rating from the nonprofit evaluator, Charity Navigator, for demonstrating strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. The coveted 4-star rating is Charity Navigator’s highest rating. “Only 13 percent of all nonprofits we rate have received at least […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
Breaking out of the “emerging nonprofit” mindset
By Erica JamisonOne of the most difficult challenges emerging nonprofits face is breaking out of the “small organization” mentality—where they feel conflicted or uncertain in how to increase capacity and budget while remaining accessible and community-oriented. Though it may come from a place of humility, this mindset can hamper an organization’s growth and longevity. As […]
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"Black Nerd" by Jon Carr: A play that draws on the unexplored Black Experience
By Jon CarrOne of the goals of Dad’s Garage is to produce new work that you would never see anywhere else. I’ve been an improviser at Dad’s Garage for more than a decade, and the marketing director for four years—and what I love about working here is our company’s commitment to producing the work we […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
The Genius vs Moments of Brilliance
By Fabian Williams (AKA “Occasional Superstar”)While scrolling down my Instagram feed, I come across at least two posts a day claiming someone is a genius. Any and everybody: Albert Einstein. Prince. Steve Jobs. Most recently—Kanye West, via Jimmy Kimmel Live, has been telling the world he’s a genius. I thought to myself, genius! By doing […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
Fabricators, Funders, and Fixers
(Featured photo provided by Midtown Alliance)By Matt TerrellArt is not created in a vacuum. There is perhaps no more malicious myth than that of the lone wolf artistic genius, squirreled away is some studio far away from civilization, sending their wares into the world. It’s true that some of the great artists of the 20th century, […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
This Summer, Get Your Art from the Great Outdoors
By Ariel Thilenius, Communications Manager for The WoodruffLast week’s post on street art by Matt Terrell got me thinking: what other ways can Atlantans experience art outdoors this summer? And, more importantly, why should they?In the infamous Georgia heat, there’s nothing better than cooling off in a museum or gallery surrounded by your favorite artists. […]
Posted inFinancial Inclusion, Thought Leader
Examining the Economics of a Reshaped Atlanta
HOPE and The Gathering Spot launch Navigating a New Atlanta series; hosts first session focused on revitalization and gentrification in Atlanta. by Operation HOPE With widespread redevelopment and revitalization happening in and around historic Atlanta communities, many Atlantans are concerned about being written out of the city’s story. The reshaping of Atlanta has made some […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
Public Art Can Be More Than Beautiful
By Matthew Terrell Public art can do so much more than be beautiful. In San Francisco, for example, public art tends to be radical and political; imagine a mural educating heroin users on always using clean needles, and calling on the city to provide more social services for drug users. A short drive up to […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
An Added Benefit of Increasing Diversity
Do what’s right; millennials will follow. By Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr. Director of the High Museum of Art, Rand Suffolk Sitting on Peachtree Street in the heart of Midtown, the High is fortunate to belong to an incredibly diverse community. Our role in this city is so much more than storing and displaying […]
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"How can theater artists help communities tap their rich cultural assets for economic and civic development?"
By Adam Fristoe, Co-Artistic Director at Out of Hand TheaterThe answers to this question, originally posed by Roadside Theater and Imagining America in their Performing our Future Initivative, can develop sustainable revenue streams for artists and arts organizations, drive cultural and economic development in Atlanta, and create community relationships that make art not only relevant to the community, but essential. Since […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
Five Reasons to Care about the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra… Even if You Don’t Attend
By Jennifer Barlament, Executive Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra 1. Every time the Atlanta Symphony wins a GRAMMY Award (we’ve won 28), we insert our city—by name—into the consciousness of people around the globe. And we do it in ways that reach beyond the music. Our GRAMMY Awards reach past artistic achievement to reflect the […]
