Art in the Neighborhood: Candler Park

By Isadora Pennington

Just a few miles east of Downtown sits Candler Park, which was established in 1922 when the land was donated to the city by Coca Cola co-founder Asa Candler. The area is incredibly popular with families and young adults, making it a relatively peaceful and quiet community. A small retail district on McLendon features a few family-friendly restaurants, a market, coffee shop and shops, while the proximity to more bustling parts of town, such as Little 5 Points and Decatur, allow for it to be an incredibly accessible neighborhood for young creatives. Here are a few of the area’s visual artists who shared their stories with INtown. For a longer version of this story, visit AtlantaINtownPaper.com.

Originally from Indiana, Barron moved to South Carolina when she was a teen. “I fought it for a while, but I ended up coming around.” Growing up, she spent a lot of time painting and drawing with her older sister. Later, she moved to Athens to attend the University of Georgia to get her BFA in Graphic Design. She enjoyed working on logos, but found some of the work to be tiresome and repetitive. “I didn’t like it, most of it was kinda grunt work,” she laughed. As the industry turned more to digital work, she lost interest.

Barron married her college sweetheart and had a family, spending much of her time pursuing other creative projects. She was also teaching full time at a private school, but took a leap and enrolled at Georgia State University where she got an MA in Art Education, and later got her MFA in Photography at SCAD Atlanta, where she also took foundational arts and printmaking.

These days, Barron spends her time both teaching and on her photography projects. “I take classical art pieces, work with symbolism, find stories and folklore allegories, and mix them together to build a set like a film still.” Her pieces are larger than life photographed portraits that she then colors by hand, mixing old techniques and new technology in a refreshingly new way. of the Madonnas,” she said, referencing one of her recent series. “I’ve been taking a darker turn and branching out into what I’m calling now the Madonnas, Monsters, and Saints.”

“Idraw reflections of things I see every day, just life and living,” explained Ant Sims. For him, the push to create is constant. “When you have a vision, you just feel obligated to share it with other people.” His animations are rich in color, heavily character driven and steeped in surrealism.

While he has always been an artist, he’s walked a winding path to find himself where he is today. Once a student at Georgia State in the Journalism program, he quickly determined that he needed to change paths and dropped out to pursue animation as a self-taught artist. “I didn’t finish, but it’s cool. Animation should have been my major in the first place. I thought I wanted to be a journalist but art is my first calling, it’s my passion.” ve definitely dabbled in many, many things throughout the years,” said Christy Bardis Petterson, a textile designer and artist who works in Candler Park. Though organizing Indie Craft Experience (ICD) and being a mother are commitments that take much of her time, she has always felt a strong drive to make art. “For many years I was doing both; making things to sell them and also organizing events and I had a full time job, and at some point you have to realize you have too many irons in the fire.”

After a hiatus, Petterson is back to her love for textile design. “I always come back to printmaking, no matter what I was working on.”

The designs that Petterson produces harken back to classic techniques, which have always fascinated her. “I’ve gotten into Adire Eleko, which is an African resist technique, and I’ve been doing that with Indigo,” she explained. “They are definitely sort of primitive. I’ve also in the last year gotten into Shibori dyeing with Indigo, Shannon and I got into that together, and I’ve been teaching workshops in that,” she said.

Shannon Mulkey Green is Petterson’s business partner at ICE, and they also work together in the education department at the High Museum. that are handcrafted. Teaching is a new thing for me, I started working at the High about three years ago, and I had dabbled in teaching previously but it is the first time I’m doing it really seriously,” she said.

Currently, you can see Petterson’s work and learn alongside her at workshops at the ICE headquarters in Candler Park.

Originally hailing from Marietta, William Massey is somewhat of a celebrity in the local art world. Many know him for his large-scale assemblages that have popped up on the BeltLine, as part of four years of Art on the BeltLine, under the overpass near the skate park. “It’s just such a cool little haven,” he said, noting that having some kind of shelter has been necessary for displaying his sculptures.

Massey has admittedly been very affected by some of his travels when it comes to his artistic pursuits. “I went to Europe right after graduating from Valdosta State,” he explained, citing that he had completed two and a half years of classes in Communications and Business. “I was miserable. I hated it. I thought, I like to doodle, I’ll just do art. I’d rather be happy than rich.”

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Your family’s most comprehensive online guide to arts and cultural entertainment Visit AtlantaPlanIt.org for more upcoming events.

Visual Art

Chastain Park Arts Festival: This festival brings together outstanding local and national visual artists in the largest public park in Fulton County. May 6 and 7. Free. chastainparkartsfestival.com

Hale Woodruff’s Talladega Murals: View the six historic murals from one of the first African-American college in the U.S. Closes May 7. $14.50. high.org

Gathered III: MOCA GA calls all Georgia artists for its third installment of this biannual exhibition. Opens May 16. $5 to $8. mocaga.org

Extreme Weather 3D: Fly through the eye of a hurricane and create a mini-tornado as you learn about severe weather. Closes May 19. $16 to $18. fernbankmuseum.org

Mickalene Thomas: Mentors, Muses, and Celebrities: See how this artists defines what it’s like to be a woman at her solo Spelman Museum of Fine Art exhibit. Closes May 20. $3. spelman.edu

Designing a Playful City: This exhibit makes the claim that if Atlanta is going to be a great city in which to live, designing great spaces for children and adults to play must become a priority. Opens May 21. $5 to $10. museumofdesign.org

A Lens on CDC: Photographs of Jim Gathany: It’s the final month to see this exhibit that documents the CDC’s achievements and history. Special curator tours are available. Closes May 26. Free. cdc.gov

Joseph Norman: Variations of Theme: This exhibit examine the art of the lithograph through Norman’s Strange Fruit, Autumn Berlin and Out at Home series. Closes May 26. Free. cau.edu

Decatur Arts Festival: The festival takes over downtown with an artist market, live music and more. May 27 and 28. Free. decaturartsfestival.com

From Here to There: Kids can lift, launch and levitate their way through hands-on exhibits that make learning about gravity, friction and the laws of motion fun. Closes May 29. $14.95.

Performing Art

Curious Queer Encounters: Discover interactive performances hidden in and around 7 Stages Theatre that redefine fine queer culture. May 4 to 14. $22.50. 7stages.org

Riverdance: The international Irish dance phenomenon is back to celebrate its 20th anniversary. May 5 to 7. $33.50 to $98.50. foxtheatre.org

Atlanta Improv Festival: The Village Theatre is playing host to performers from Atlanta and beyond. May 11 to 13. atlantaimprovfestival.com

Camino Real: Atlanta Ballet performs Tennessee Williams’ tale of survival and good versus evil. May 12 to 14. $20 to $128. atlantaballet.com

Shaky Knees: The fifth annual music festival heads to Centennial Olympic Park with headliners The xx, Pixies, Third Eye Blind and more. May 12 to 14. $99 to $185. shakykneesfestival.com

Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3): A slave named Hero follows his master into the Civil War in this three part play. Opens May 13. $21 to $45. actorsexpress.com

Finding Neverland: Follow Peter Pan and his Neverland friends in this Broadway adventure. May 16 to 21. $30 to $150. atlanta.broadway.com

John Legend: Grammy- and Award-winning R&B singer John Legend welcomes singer Gallant on tour for this performance. May 19. $43 to $128. livenation.com

An Orchestral Tribute to the Music of the King, Elvis Presley!: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra celebrates the life and music of Elvis, including “Jailhouse Rock” and “Love Me Tender.” May 19 and 20. $21 to $54. atlantasymphony.org

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem: Atlanta Master Chorale performs Johannes Brahms’ seminal piece on the campus of Emory University. May 20 and 21. $10 to $30. atlantamasterchorale.org

Sigur Rós: Icelandic band Sigur Rós returns to Atlanta for one night only at The Fox Theatre. May 23. $53.70 to $117.40. foxtheatre.org

Atlanta Jazz Festival

FEATURING: MACY GRAY | ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT MOONCHILD MARQUIS HILL BLACKTET | FREDDY COLE

The Two Gentlemen of Verona: Join Atlanta Shakespeare Company for one of Shakespeare’s earliest and funniest plays. Opens May 26. $15 to $36. shakespearetavern.com

Atlanta Jazz Festival: One the country’s largest free jazz festivals returns to Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. May 26 to 28. Free! atlantafestivals.comBrew At The Zoo: Sample over 70 beers and wines while listening to live music and meeting Zoo Atlanta’s animals. May 27. $50 to $100. zooatlanta.org

Chris Rock: One of Comedy Central’s “Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time” performs three shows live at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. May 26 to 28. $65.60 to $144.95. foxtheatre.org

Pete the Cat: This new puppet show is a groovy adventure of one cool, rocking blue cat and his fine friends. Closes May 28. $20.50. puppet.org

CHARLES LLOYD SKY TRIO | RUSSELL GUNN & AFRICAN DRUMS MEETS KEBBI WILLIAMS’ WOLF PACK | DEVA MAHAL

MAY 26-28, 2017 | MEMORIAL DAY

WEEKEND | PIEDMONT PARK

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