By David Pendered
A tweak of Atlanta artist Karen Anderson Singer’s concept of Tiny Doors ATL is to run Friday through Sunday in the installation, Big PATH, Tiny Parks, which is the pandemic version of Livable Buckhead’s annual autumn celebration of parks and greenspace.
Singer has captured international attention with her public art concept of Tiny Doors. The projects are, literally, tiny doors – standing no more than 7 inches high and hidden in plain sight around Atlanta. CBS’ Sunday Morning did a full segment in 2018, Unlocking the Secrets of Tiny Doors ATL.
Big PATH, Tiny Parks is a collection of about 45 miniature parks created and built by nearly 40 groups of nonprofits and businesses. Singer helped the project by serving as creative collaborator.
Livable Buckhead created some guidelines to shape the installation. Each park is to measure 14 inches by 18 inches. Each park is to represent a different theme, or present an idea for a future park that could be built to human scale along PATH400. Themes include:
- Hipster Cocktail Party;
- Movie Night on the Green;
- Harvest Market;
- Health Fair Day at the Park.
The installations are located along PATH400. The display is open during daylight hours and free to visit. The parks are spaced along a half-mile stretch of PATH400 starting near Old Ivy Park.
To serve those who don’t want to be around others during the pandemic, Livable Buckhead has provided a virtual tour. It’s complete with the full audio experience of the lives space and the opportunity to vote for a favorite park.
Atlanta DJ Mike Zarin created a sound experience for each park that’s described in a statement as, an “immersion acoustic experience.” The experience is likened to a silent disco or silent rave, or an audio tour experience such as provided by the High Museum of Art.
Big PATH, Tiny Parks is Livable Buckhead’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has closed many gatherings – including the annual PARK(ing) Day event, in which Livable Buckhead took over the parking lot at Lenox Square to celebrate parks and greenspace.
Denise Starling, Livable Buckhead’s executive director, said Big PATH, Tiny Parks was the organization’s solution to celebrating public greenspace in a manner that respected the pandemic and public response. Starling observed in a statement:
- “When we realized that we couldn’t hold our PARK(ing) Day event due to COVID-19, we knew we needed to find another way to capture the creativity that our partners put into their pop-up parks each year. Sometimes you can make the biggest impact by going small, or in this case, really small. So we challenged our partners to see how much imaginative thinking they could squeeze into a 14-inch by 18-inch space, and they didn’t disappoint!”
Prizes are to be awarded on the basis of public voting on categories that include: People’s Choice, Most Creative Reuse of Material, Best Community Team, Most Unusual, and Most Wanted Features for PATH400.
Sponsors of Big PATH, Tiny Park include AMLI Residential; Beck; Buckhead 960; Coastal States Bank; Copiana; Goode Van Slyke Architecture; MFD; Transwestern; Tower Beer, Wine & Spirits; Heath & Lineback Engineers; and Zegi.
