The Arts Take Center Stage On the BeltLine

Public art — both visual and performance — has always been a fundamental component of the Atlanta BeltLine vision.

Year five of the biannual Art on the BeltLine kicks off with The Lantern Parade this September 6.

Over 240 proposals were vetted for artistic merit, concept originality, feasibility and community engagement with almost 100 visual and performance pieces selected.

In similar news, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. has received a $100,000 National Endowment for the Arts Grant to build a fancy permanent stage where a temporary one now stands just north of H. Harper Station in the Reynoldstown neighborhood. The project will include landscaped exhibit space and an elevated park connection with ”some of the best views of the city.” Georgia Tech professor Tristan Al-Haddad and his students were key contributors to the winning proposal.

The Reynoldstown Stage will be nestled into an area with unique topographical features and a kind of shiny halo overhead that may have been intended as a metaphor for the kind of crowning achievement that the Atlanta BeltLine is becoming for the city.

“This project is a model that demonstrates how public spaces bring people together, strengthen communities, and reflect the personalities of our communities,” said Paul Morris, President and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.

From September through November,  Art on the BeltLine sculpture, murals, theater, outdoor concerts, parades, and performance art will be targeted for the following areas along the Atlanta BeltLine:

• On the northern Eastside interim hiking trail between Montgomery Ferry Road and Monroe Drive
• On the Eastside Trail between Monroe Drive and Irwin Street
• On the southern Eastside interim hiking trail between Wylie Street and Memorial Drive in Reynoldstown
• On the Westside Trail between Washington Park and Allene Avenue in southwest Atlanta

Here is the roster of artists: