Healing in community: Atlanta gathering centers art, connection during difficult times

A group of artists, organizers and community members gathered in Old 4th Ward on March 19 not just to talk, but to process.

Hosted by Mark Kendall, founder of CoolCoolCool Productions, in partnership with the Radical Optimist Collective, the event, titled ATL Arts & Wellbeing Series: Radical Optimist Collective + CoolCoolCool, invited participants into a shared space for reflection, creativity and what organizers described as “collective healing.” Held at The Lola, a coworking space for women and nonbinary entrepreneurs, the evening blended guided meditation, art-making and open dialogue.

The gathering comes at a moment when many are navigating personal and societal strain, from political tensions to burnout in caregiving and creative fields. Organizers framed the event as a response to those pressures,  a place to slow down and reconnect.

“We have been working with groups… so that they can make sense of the experience and keep it going in their everyday lives,” said Lisa Flick Wilson, a member of the Radical Optimist Collective.

Founded in 2018, the collective emerged in connection with visits to the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and memorial sites in Montgomery, Ala. The group’s work centers on helping organizations process the emotional weight of the history of racial oppression, tracing a line from enslavement to mass incarceration and translating those insights into ongoing action.

Over time, that work has expanded beyond Montgomery into broader community spaces like the Atlanta event.

“We believe that it starts in Montgomery,” said Staci Walker, another member of the collective. “Once you experience it, you can’t unsee it… What do we do now? How does that impact our work?”

That question, what comes next, shaped the structure of the evening.

Participants were invited to engage with a range of tools laid out around the room: journals for writing, art materials and sensory elements, like essential and fragrance oil spray blends. The goal was to create multiple entry points for reflection, recognizing that people process emotion in different ways.

“What we know is that when people are having an emotional experience, they need lots of different ways to be supportive,” said Vanessa Jackson, a member of the collective who also creates the natural sprays used during the session.

The evening began with a guided meditation led by Kenya Jackson-Saulters, encouraging attendees to ground themselves through breath and visualization. From there, the group moved into conversation, guided by three central prompts: What is keeping you up at night? What is keeping you going? And how do you feel now?

Participants were invited, but not required, to share. Organizers emphasized confidentiality, asking attendees to “take the learning but leave the story,” a framework intended to build trust within the group.

The emphasis on both vulnerability and boundaries reflects the collective’s broader philosophy: holding “pain and possibility at the same time.”

That balance was evident in the conversations that followed. While some participants spoke about stress, uncertainty and exhaustion, others highlighted sources of resilience,  community, creativity and a sense of purpose.

The event also highlighted the role of the arts in mental health, a theme underscored by recent developments in Georgia. As one participant mentioned, the state of Georgia became the first in the nation to pass legislation recognizing the arts as a tool to support health outcomes.

For organizers, that recognition reinforces what they see in practice.

“There’s something about using the arts to heal,” Jackson-Saulters said. “It’s a tool… a medicine.”

The Atlanta gathering is part of an ongoing series focused on arts and well-being, with events held on the third Thursday of each month. The next event, ATL Arts & Wellbeing: Night on Queens, is  scheduled for April 16 and will center on compassion through spoken word and collaborative art.

But for those in attendance, the impact of the evening was less about programming and more about presence.

In a city often defined by rapid growth and constant activity, the event offered something quieter: a pause.

“Thank you for all of you for choosing to be here,” Walker told the group. “There are a thousand places you could be.”

For a few hours, participants chose to be together,  listening, reflecting and, in small but meaningful ways, beginning to heal.