Atlanta approves $90,000 to ready Municipal Market merchants for World Cup
Invest Atlanta’s Board of Directors has approved $90,000 in Tax Allocation District funding to help nine small businesses at the Municipal Market in Sweet Auburn prepare for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which is expected to draw millions of visitors to the city this summer.
Each of the nine eligible merchants will receive a $10,000 grant through the Municipal Market Vendor Success Grant program. The funds are earmarked for storefront improvements including updated signage, better lighting, and other upgrades aimed at enhancing the experience for both local shoppers and international visitors.
The Municipal Market, a fixture in the historically significant Sweet Auburn corridor since 1924, is home to a mix of food vendors and small retailers. Grant recipients include Philly G Cheesesteaks, Parks Meat Market, East Atlanta Treehouse, A Taste of Secrets, Metro Deli, Retro Deli Grill, Vieux Carré Bistro, Earl of Sandwich Shop, and S&H Produce.
Mayor Andre Dickens framed the investment as part of the city’s broader Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative, emphasizing the importance of positioning local businesses to benefit from major events. Invest Atlanta CEO Dr. Eloisa Klementich echoed that sentiment, describing the World Cup as a catalyst for longer-term economic development in the Sweet Auburn community.
The funding is part of Atlanta’s wider strategy to leverage global sporting events into lasting opportunities for small businesses, particularly those in historically underinvested neighborhoods. More information on Invest Atlanta’s small business resources is available here.
— Derek Prall
Dior exhibition opens at SCAD FASH in Atlanta, marking the house’s first Southeast museum show
The Savannah College of Art and Design’s SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film has opened “Dior: Crafting Fashion,” the first museum presentation of the House of Dior in the Southeastern United States. The exhibition, now on view in Atlanta, was created exclusively by Christian Dior Couture in collaboration with the university.
Curated by Hélène Starkman, exhibition curator for Christian Dior Couture, and organized by SCAD FASH creative director Rafael Brauer Gomes, the show spans seven thematic sections and features more than 100 historic pieces, some displayed publicly for the first time. The exhibition traces the house’s creative lineage from founder Christian Dior, who originally aspired to be an architect, through successive designers up to Jonathan Anderson.
Sections cover a range of topics including atelier toiles, Lady Dior handbags reimagined by American artists, expressive garden-inspired designs, and looks from major runway shows and red carpet events. The set design is intended to walk visitors through the creative process, from initial sketches to the runway.
The exhibition debuted as the finale for SCADstyle 2026, the university’s annual celebration of style and design. SCAD students across programs including fashion design, accessory design, and luxury brand management had the opportunity to engage with Dior’s curators and design leaders through private tours and lectures.
The show follows the 2025 presentation of “Christian Dior: Jardins Rêvés” at SCAD’s Lacoste campus in Provence, France, which drew record attendance.
— Derek Prall
Atlanta poet Stephen Wing to launch political poetry collection at Candler Park bookstore
Atlanta-based poet and activist Stephen Wing will launch his new book, “Honk If You’re Awake! Poems for a Republic in Peril,” on Friday, May 1, at Bibliotech Books in Candler Park.
The 178-page collection compiles four decades of politically engaged poetry, spanning from the Reagan administration to the present. Organized into topical sections, the book covers themes of domestic injustice, military intervention abroad, nuclear war planning, and citizen resistance. A chapbook-length account of a peace delegation to Colombia serves as the collection’s centerpiece. The book also features Wing’s original collage art and closes with an afterword on the relationship between poetry and politics.
Wing describes his approach as rooted in human connection rather than detached commentary. “Political poetry is simply the human in me, responding to the human in those caught up in today’s headlines, reaching out to the human in you,” he writes in the afterword.
The collection positions Wing as a participant in the events he chronicles rather than an outside observer, a distinction he draws deliberately. The poems blend lyrical imagery with political urgency across a range of tones, from outrage to humor.
Wing’s previous works include “Wild Atlanta: Greenspaces and Nature Preserves of ‘The City In The Forest'” (2023), which received a City of Atlanta Artist’s Project award and paired poetry about the city’s urban forests with photography by Luz Wright, and “Washed in the Hurricane” (2024), a collection focused on the natural world and climate change.
— Derek Prall
Performance Jam ATL stages Pulitzer finalist “Detroit” at Pullman Yards
Performance Jam ATL, the Atlanta-based creative collective co-founded by actress Vivian Bang, will present Lisa D’Amour’s dark comedy “Detroit” in a limited two-week run at Pullman Yards from April 24 through May 3. Tickets are on sale now.
A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, “Detroit” centers on two suburban couples, Mary and Ben, and their new neighbors Kenny and Sharon, whose backyard barbecue becomes a vehicle for examining American anxiety. The play explores financial instability, generational disconnect, disillusionment with familiar systems, and the tension between safety and transformation, themes the production’s organizers see as particularly resonant in the current moment.
The play marks Performance Jam’s follow-up to its sold-out 2024 production of “The Seagull.” The group describes itself as a creative hub where Atlanta-area actors, writers, and filmmakers gather to explore and collaborate. Bang, who co-founded the collective, is known for her roles in the Sundance feature “White Rabbit,” the Netflix comedy “Always Be My Maybe,” and HBO’s “The Parenting.”
Set against the familiar backdrop of suburban domesticity, “Detroit” uses humor and compassion to surface the contradictions of human nature. The production leans into the play’s central tensions between comfort and risk, connection and isolation as its characters navigate what it means to live alongside the unexpected.
Performance Jam frames the production as an exercise in confronting collective unease through art, describing it as “a spark that can burn down houses and ignite true transformation.”
— Derek Prall
Fulton County opens new $25M health facility in Alpharetta
Fulton County has opened a new $25 million Health & Human Services Center in Alpharetta.
Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 16 at the facility, located at 4700 North Point Parkway.
The Fulton County Board of Health services housed at the center include children’s dental care, WIC, nursing, women’s health, environmental health and vital records.
The facility also houses the county’s Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities department, Senior Services, and Recovery Treatment Court.
Senior Services include a senior center with an adult day program designed to help older adults remain active, connected and independent, a statement said.
Fulton County Commissioner Bridget Thorne, who represents District 1 in North Fulton, said the facility is a tremendous boost to the community.
“This is really about bringing our community together and making these vital services more accessible for everyone,” Thorne said in the statement. “We’re delivering real results for North Fulton by expanding access, strengthening services, and bringing critical care closer to our residents.”
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said the facility reflects the county’s commitment to North Fulton and the county as a whole.
“This is a major investment in quality, access and community well-being, reflecting our dedication to delivering high-impact services across the county,” Pitts said in the statement. “By consolidating these services into one modern, accessible space, we’re improving convenience, supporting coordinated care and building a stronger foundation for long-term community health…”
— Adrianne Murchison
HouseATL honors six affordable housing champions at annual awards luncheon
HouseATL recognized six individuals and organizations for their contributions to housing affordability in the Atlanta region at its third annual Affordable Housing Awards luncheon, held April 22 at The Gathering Spot. More than 150 housing leaders attended the event, which honored awardees across five categories selected through a membership-wide nomination and voting process.
The 2026 recipients span a range of housing work, from tenant advocacy and legal defense to large-scale development and strategic funding:
- Housing Policy Advocate (co-recipients): Alison Johnson of the Housing Justice League, recognized for her work in eviction defense and grassroots organizing, and Mariel Risner Sivley of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia, honored for coalition-driven legislative advocacy.
- Homeownership Champion: Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, for projects including Browns Mill Village and the forthcoming Langston Park, which will serve as a showcase for the Carter Work Project 2026.
- Housing Retention Hero: Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, for providing free legal representation to thousands of tenants facing housing instability.
- Rental Housing Preservation Leader: Columbia Residential, for rehabilitating affordable properties including Legacy at East Lake and Columbia Senior at MLK Village.
- Exceptional Funder: Dr. Christie Cade of Enterprise Community Partners, for her work co-chairing HouseATL’s Funders’ Collective and advancing coordinated investment in affordable housing.
HouseATL is a coalition that works to advance housing affordability across Atlanta’s five core counties through strategic recommendations. The organization plans to continue making annual awards as its coalition grows.
