The I’M SO ATL public art campaign is turning Atlanta city parks into canvases this summer.
The campaign, launching in May, aims to transform Atlanta into what organizers describe as a “living, breathing art gallery,” with installations across city parks and neighborhoods leading up to the ARTlanta Festival of Culture in Piedmont Park on Aug. 7–9.
More than a traditional arts festival, the initiative is structured as a months-long public activation designed to coincide with the city’s growing global visibility; the art will be on display through November 2026.
“We’re trying to unify Atlanta through the arts,” said Yamileth “Yami” Jaramillo, the campaign’s official spokesperson and a programming partner. “Ultimately, Atlanta is a global city … and there is so much culture right here in our backyard.”
The campaign will roll out large-scale installations across Atlanta parks through a partnership with the city’s Parks and Recreation department, with additional sites expected to be announced incrementally. Organizers are also issuing an open call for 1,000 artists, an unusually large-scale invitation that underscores the project’s emphasis on access and representation.
“The whole point is to make Atlanta a living, breathing art gallery … utilizing public spaces to tell its story,” Jaramillo said.
Unlike conventional exhibitions confined to galleries or single venues, I’M SO ATL is designed to embed art into everyday movement through the city, including parks,a strategy that aligns with broader conversations about walkability and placemaking.
“I believe that art has the biggest role,” Jaramillo said. “This is a city aspiring to become walkable … and the more that we’re utilizing these public spaces, it needs to tell the story. It needs to give credence to the people that inhabit the city.”
New installations will be added over time in what Jaramillo described as a “trickle-down effect” leading into the festival.
ARTlanta itself is envisioned as a multi-genre, large-scale cultural gathering, less a single-stage event and more a decentralized experience within one park.
“It’s set up to be many activations within a massive activation,” she said. “You might be enjoying hip-hop in one area … then go over there and dance salsa. Atlanta has so much here. This is now our chance to showcase all of it.”
Organizers say the campaign is also meant to address longstanding gaps in access to large-scale public art opportunities, particularly for emerging artists.
“There are artists that might not ever get this type of stage, and now they do,” Jaramillo said. “They’ll be able to go to the park … and see their art living, breathing alongside of them.”
While details around compensation and partnerships are still being finalized, Jaramillo emphasized that additional announcements are forthcoming.
The initiative is backed by several early partners, including the city of Atlanta, Atlanta Parks and Recreation, Atlanta Public Schools, the Atlanta Police Department and the AMAC Foundation, with more collaborators expected to be announced.
Beyond visibility, organizers frame the campaign as an effort to shape Atlanta’s identity, both internally and externally, at a moment of rapid growth and international attention.
“We haven’t had this level of global attention [that we will get during the World Cup] since the Olympics,” Jaramillo said. “We see this as an opportunity… to tell our own story.”
Central to that effort is a parallel social media campaign inviting all residents,not just artists, to define what “I’m so ATL” means.
“It’s not for us to define,” she said. “You tell us your story. Everybody has one… every single one of them has a voice, and this is our way of giving them the mic.”
If successful, organizers say the campaign could extend beyond 2026 and influence long-term cultural planning in the city.
“The goal is long-term placemaking,” Jaramillo said. “We want to build something that grows every year… and solidifies the arts community on a global stage.”
For now, the focus remains on execution and scale.
“This is the biggest public art campaign that Atlanta has ever… executed,” she said. “We’re making Atlanta the canvas, the actual gallery, and we invite everybody to be a part of it.”
To contact I’M SO ATL click here, for more info about artist and vendor open calls check them out on instagram @im.so.atl
