The ATL Arts Collective

The ATL Arts Collective broadcasts from its new home inside The CTR with the story behind the collaborative creative hub. Plus, a new exhibition from Gallery FC and the history of The World of Sid and Marty Krofft. 
The ATL Arts Collective Has a New Home
Welcome to the very first episode broadcasting from our brand-new podcast studio, located inside the CTR (the iconic former CNN Center) in Downtown Atlanta! We celebrate this landmark milestone alongside the coalition of creative visionaries who are transforming the historic entertainment megastructure into a home for collaboration, culture, and community under the CTR Culture initiatives
Welcome to CTR Culture Studios
Atlanta's next creative chapter is taking shape in the heart of downtown. Host Kim Drobes is joined by Ryan Howard of CP Group, Alex Frankcombe of Downtown Atlanta Inc., Neda Abghari of ASHA Advisory, and A.R. "Coop" Cooper of Art in the Paint (and now Gallery FC). Hear their plans to fund public art, launch CTR Culture Studios, a prestigious seven-artist residency program, and bring premier local companies like T. Lang Dance into the heart of the city. All while creating new opportunities for Atlanta's creative community.
Before CNN, There Was an Indoor Theme Park
 
Contributor Wesley Boutilier of Viewist Productions takes us on a deep dive into a wild, forgotten piece of Georgia history: The World of Sid & Marty Krofft. Long before the building became the CNN Center, developers built the Omni International megastructure. In May 1976, they teamed up with the famous H.R. Pufnstuf, Banana Splits, and Land of the Lost creators to open the world’s first indoor theme park. Discover how the wildly ambitious project burned brightly before disappearing just months after opening in 1976.
Gallery FC Celebrates Atlanta's artists who welcomed the world with the Home Team exhibition
Neda and Coop return to the table to introduce Gallery FC, a new community-centered gallery located at the CTR. Their latest exhibition, Home Team, celebrates the many artists who were commissioned to create public works in Atlanta to prepare the city for the World Cup while exploring how galleries, public art, and creative partnerships can help shape the city's future.
 
Looking to stay connected to the people, performances, exhibitions, and ideas shaping Atlanta's creative community? The ATL Arts Collective brings you the stories behind the city's culture every Wednesday.
 
Support for this episode comes from:
Motherlode
Mainline Magazine
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois' "Hit the Deck from her album "Astral Heart," courtesy of Wicked Superb Records.
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do. ☕  
 
Looking to stay connected to the people, performances, exhibitions, and ideas shaping Atlanta's creative community? The ATL Arts Collective brings you the stories behind the city's culture every Wednesday.
 
Support for this episode comes from:
Motherlode
Mainline Magazine
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois' "Hit the Deck from her album "Astral Heart," courtesy of Wicked Superb Records.
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do. ☕  
 
 
00:00:00 music
00:00:05 Announcement: Recording from Center Culture Studios & First Video Episode
00:01:30 Show Intro & Purpose
00:02:15 Panel Introductions
00:02:55 CP Group & Vision for the Building
00:05:29 Downtown Atlanta Inc. & Public Art
00:09:30 ASHA Advisory & Curation
00:12:51 Center Culture Studios: Incubator, Residencies & Partnerships
00:15:49 Gallery FC & Art in the Paint
00:18:28 Future Activations & Experiences
00:22:02 The World of Sid and Marty Krofft (Documentary)
00:32:53 Gallery FC: World Cup Mural Exhibition & Community Focus
00:45:27 Closing, Support & Next Week

✦  Jewel Wicker  ✦ The Jimmy Awards ✦ GULCH’s Making it Work ✦ Eyedrum on Monday Nights ✦ Pen Names ✦ Best Bets ✦  
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do. ☕  
Featured contributor Jewel Wicker joins us as we meet a Milton student fresh off a national Jimmy Award win, discover one of Atlanta's most adventurous live music series, examine why more writers are choosing pen names, and share ArtsATL’s Best Bets.
Meet This Week's Featured Contributor
Our featured contributor, Jewel Wicker, has built a career telling stories about music, culture, and the people shaping them. An Atlanta native whose work has appeared in Billboard, GQ, Teen Vogue, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jewel joins us to discuss her reporting, her upcoming nonfiction book Take It to Trial, and what continues to inspire her as a storyteller. She also shares her favorite local discoveries for our series, Beats, Bites and Sites.
Beats
Catching live music at the Tabernacle
Bites 
Celebratory dining at Kimball House
Sites 
Unique exhibitions at Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
A Jimmy Award Winner from Milton
ArtsATL reporter Benji Carr talks with Jake James, the Milton High School performer who recently captured a Jimmy Award, the nation's highest honor for high school musical theater performers. He shares what the experience was like, what comes next, and how Atlanta's theater community helped shape his journey.
Making It Work as a Creative
For this month's Making It Work segment, Jasmine Hentschel of GULCH Magazine talks with Atlanta designer and furniture maker Robby Simon about building a creative career, learning which opportunities to embrace, and finding the freedom to focus on work that truly matters.
Inside Atlanta's Monday Night Creative Music Series
ArtsATL reporter Doug DeLoach visits Eyedrum’s Monday Night Creative Music Series, where improvisation, experimentation, and collaboration have created one of Atlanta's most unique gathering places for adventurous musicians and curious audiences alike.
Why Writers Choose Pen Names 
Jewel Wicker brings us a fascinating look at the growing use of pen names, inspired by bestselling romance author Kennedy Ryan and a broader conversation about privacy, identity, and authorship in the age of social media. From novelists to playwrights, she explores what writers gain, and what they give up, when they publish under another name.
ArtsATL Best Bets 
Executive Editor Shane Harrison rounds out the episode with his weekly recommendations for arts and culture across metro Atlanta, including the world premiere of When Faith Calls, a new exhibition at White Space, Bob Dylan with Lucinda Williams at Chastain Park, and Hacking Hip-Hop at the Atlanta History Center.
Looking to stay connected to the people, performances, exhibitions, and ideas shaping Atlanta's creative community? The ATL Arts Collective brings you the stories behind the city's culture every Wednesday.
 
Support for this episode comes from:
The Sun ATL
 
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois' "Hit the Deck from her album "Astral Heart," courtesy of Wicked Superb Records.
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do. ☕  
Chapters
 
00:00:00 Welcome & Show Overview
00:01:42 Jake James — Jimmy Award Winner (Benji Carr Interview)
00:08:07 Guest Introduction — Jewel Wicker
00:12:18 Beats, Bites, and Sites — Jewel’s Atlanta Picks
00:17:14 Making It Work — Robby Simon (Jasmine Henschel)
00:28:58 Eyedrum — Monday Night Creative Music Series (Doug DeLoach)
00:40:28 Feature: The Power & Privacy of Pen Names (Jewel Wicker)
00:46:27 ArtsATL Best Bets — Shane Harrison
00:50:36 Closing, Announcements & Studio News
 

✦  Shanita Miller of Black Girl's Guide to Atlanta  ✦ Cabbagetown '76 ✦ ColorPath ✦ Cyber Leauge Baseball ✦ Best Bets ✦  
 
Featured contributor Shanita Miller joins us as we explore a landmark photography exhibition documenting historic Cabbagetown, discover a new wayfinding platform connecting people with Downtown Atlanta, meet an Atlanta comic creator taking his latest graphic novel to San Diego Comic-Con, and share ArtsATL's Best Bets for the week ahead.
Meet This Week's Featured Contributor
Featured contributor is Shanita Miller, founder of Black Girls Guide to Atlanta. Shanita first joined us in May to share the story behind Black Girls Guide to Atlanta. This week she returns to introduce ColorPath and share a few of her favorite local discoveries in Beats, Bites & Sights.
Beats
Catching live music and DJs at Westside Motor Lounge 
Bites (and bevs)
Craft cocktails at El Ponce 
Sites 
Contemporary art at ZuCot Gallery in Castleberry Hill
Cabbagetown Through Barbara McKenzie's Lens
Fifty years after photographer Barbara McKenzie documented daily life in Cabbagetown, her images are being exhibited publicly for the first time in Cabbagetown '76: The Photographs of Barbara McKenzie. ArtsATL reporter Doug DeLoach explores the exhibition, the neighborhood's transformation from mill town to creative hub, and the musicians, artists, and preservationists keeping its story alive.
Finding Downtown with ColorPath
Shanita introduces us to ColorPath, a new wayfinding platform created by Dionna Collins and Jereme D. Sharpe that helps residents and visitors discover locally owned businesses, cultural attractions, and neighborhood experiences throughout Downtown Atlanta. Blending digital maps, public art, and community recommendations, ColorPath is designed to make exploring the city more connected and more colorful.
From Atlanta to San Diego Comic-Con
ArtsATL reporter Sally Fuller talks with Atlanta illustrator and comic creator Anderson Carman, whose new sci-fi sports series Cyber League Baseball will debut at San Diego Comic-Con through publisher 247 Comics with distribution by Penguin Random House. Carman discusses building a world of cybernetic athletes, the surprising parallels between science fiction and real-world conversations about artificial intelligence, and why Dragon Con remains one of his favorite creative communities.
ArtsATL Best Bets 
Executive Editor Shane Harrison rounds out the episode with his weekly recommendations for arts and culture events happening across metro Atlanta. This week his mix includes the Buford Highway Arts Festival, the 16th Atlanta Ice Cream & Wellness Festival, and the Double Trouble Double Vision Tour.
Looking to stay connected to the people, performances, exhibitions, and ideas shaping Atlanta's creative community? The ATL Arts Collective brings you the stories behind the city's culture every Wednesday.
 
Support for this episode comes from:
Motherlode
Mainline Magazine
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois' "Hit the Deck from her album "Astral Heart," courtesy of Wicked Superb Records.
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do. ☕  
Chapters
 
00:00 Welcome to The ATL Arts Collective
 
00:42 Cabbagetown '76: The Photographs of Barbara McKenzie
 
12:35 Shanita Miller's Atlanta Favorites: Westside Motor Lounge, El Ponce & ZuCot Gallery
 
16:03 Discover Downtown Atlanta with ColorPath
 
22:32 Mainline Records Opens in Atlanta
 
23:06 Anderson Carman Brings Cyber League Baseball to San Diego Comic-Con
 
33:24 ArtsATL's Weekend Best Bets with Shane Harrison

✦ Summer Evans ✦ Spamalot ✦ Peaches on Peachtree Street ✦ Izzy ✦ Dior ✦ Best Bets ✦
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do. ☕  
✦ This Week On The Show ✦ 
This week’s featured contributor is Summer Evans! She is a freelance journalist and multimedia storyteller based in Atlanta. Summer’s background is in public radio, and she currently works as a freelance social media content producer for Rough Draft Atlanta. Here’s her picks for our Beats, Bites, and Sights segment, where our featured contributor shares their favorite gems across the city:
Beats: Catching concerts from the front row at The Eastern in Reynoldstown and checking out the acoustic singer-songwriter legacy of Eddie's Attic in Decatur.
Bites: Upscale dining featuring kangaroo appetizers along the Chattahoochee River at Canoe in Buckhead, and sipping a "Sangrita" on the rooftop patio of La Fonda Latina on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Sights: Viewing ancient Egyptian mummies at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, and browsing world-class photography at Jackson Fine Art in Buckhead.
✦ Delaney Benson in Spamalot Tour at The Fox Theatre ✦ 
ArtsATL theatre correspondent Sally Fuller sits down with Gainesville, Georgia native Delaney Benson as she tours in the hit Monty Python Broadway musical Spamalot at the historic Fox Theatre. The triple-threat performer shares what it’s like to step into the ensemble, handle twelve quick changes, and understudy the powerhouse role of the Lady of the Lake. Plus, she reflects on growing up in a theatrical family with her mother, Jodi Benson (Broadway star and the original voice of Disney's The Little Mermaid), and her father, Ray Benson, learning Singin' in the Rain choreography in her kitchen, and her early days performing with the Gainesville Theatre Alliance.
✦ Why Are There No Peach Trees on Peachtree Street? ✦ 
Featured contributor Summer Evans of Rough Draft Atlanta unpacks a quintessential Atlanta riddle: why, until very recently, have there been no peach trees on Peachtree Street? We trace the historic thoroughfare back to its roots in the Muscogee Creek Nation settlement of Standing Peachtree, explore the 1812 military origin of the road near Fort Peachtree, and look at how modern civic efforts have shaped the city’s urban tree canopy.
✦  History of Izzy: The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Mascot ✦  
We also celebrate a major cultural milestone: the 30th anniversary of the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games. Documentarian Wesley Boutilier dives deep into the history of the city's highly debated Olympic mascot: Izzy. From designer John Ryan’s original computer-animated "What Is It" design to the merchandise boom featuring boxing legend Evander Holyfield, we explore how this polarizing blue character became a staple of 1990s pop culture, spawned a Sega Genesis video game, and starred in an animated special. 
✦ Dior Crafting Fashion Exhibition at SCAD FASH Museum ✦ 
ArtsATL writer Robert Stalker joins us to pull back the curtain on the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film exhibition, Dior: Crafting Fashion (on view through August 23). We trace the legacy of Christian Dior from his mid-century "New Look" revolution to modern creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Jonathan Anderson. Discover the painstaking, fully handmade secrets of the Parisian haute couture ateliers, the architectural genius of 1990s director Gianfranco Ferré, and how the fashion house continues to style legendary Hollywood clients from Marlene Dietrich to contemporary stars.  
✦ ArtsATL Best Bets for the Week  ✦
ArtsATL Executive Editor Shane Harrison joins the show to share his top cultural recommendations for the week. His curated mix features The Atlanta African Dance and Drum Festival, Tommy Davidson at City Winery, and the Monster Ball in Little Five Points.
Special thanks to today’s sponsors:
The Sun ATL
It’s UATL
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois' "Hit the Deck from her album "Astral Heart," courtesy of Wicked Superb Records.
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do. ☕
 
 
00:00 Introduction and Welcome with Kim Drobes02:29 Delaney Benson on Spamalot National Tour at Fox Theatre09:16 The History of Standing Peachtree and Peachtree Street16:54 The History of Izzy: The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Mascot27:47 Beats, Bites, and Sights: Atlanta Culture Recommendations31:41 Christian Dior Crafting Fashion Exhibition Review at SCAD FASH41:59 ArtsATL Best Bets: Local Concerts, Festivals, and Comedy with Shane Harrison46:10 Show Wrap-up, Support Links, and Next Week's Preview  

✦  Julián Gonzalez-Diaz of FRESH JUGO  ✦ Stop-Motion Animation ✦ This is Somewhere ✦ Lucy Luckovich ✦ Best Bets ✦  Co-Curating the Future ✦
☕Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do☕
✦This Week On The Show ✦ 
This week’s featured contributor is Julián Gonzalez-Diaz! He’s a painter and the host of the FRESH JUGO podcast, where he has casual conversations with Atlanta creatives in a variety of disciplines. Julián breaks down his nomadic studio-recording setup and shares his journey from a pandemic-era graduation to navigating the local DIY art scene. We learn how his Mexican heritage and life in the American South converge to shape his portraits, still lifes, and his drive to amplify Atlanta artists.
✦ The Magic of Frame by Frame Animation at the Center for Puppetry Arts ✦ 
Atlanta documentarian and Viewist Productions founder Wesley Boutilier dives into the painstaking, beautifully tactile world of stop-motion animation at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Their new exhibition, Frame by Frame: The Art of Stop-Motion Animation, explores three decades of master craftsmanship. Learn about the intricate physical armatures, puppets, and production sets behind legendary cinematic milestones like Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and SpongeBob SquarePants. After you hear the story on the podcast, go watch Boutilier’s short documentary. 
✦ Double Exposure: Capturing Soul in Atlanta & New Orleans ✦ 
ArtsATL reporter Jhazzy Joiner takes us to the historic Haugabrooks Gallery along Auburn Avenue for aKAZ! ATL’s This Is Somewhere. Founders and curators Anja and Jumbe Sebunya celebrate family ties by juxtaposing the drone-manipulated Atlanta cityscape photography of software engineer and YouTube personality Craig Lou with the striking black American cultural portraiture of Iman Sebunya, whose work honors the Black Masking Native Americans, second lines, and the essence of New Orleans.
✦ Lucy Lukovich's Dolly at Wolfgang Gallery ✦  
Julián Gonzalez-Diaz sits down with Atlanta contemporary painter Lucy Luckovich to discuss her upcoming solo exhibition, Dolly. Fresh off completing her Master of Fine Arts at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the Georgia State University alum explores the complex layers of female desire, advertising culture, and text-based lineage. She details her surrealist collage-to-canvas paintings and hidden illustrative drawings that will be on view at Wolfgang Gallery from July 17-August 22.
✦ ArtsATL Best Bets for the Week  ✦
ArtsATL Executive Editor Shane Harrison joins the show to share his top cultural recommendations for the week. His curated mix features the Atlanta Micro Short Film Festival, several concerts, and a new Off the Wall film screening projected onto the Beltline’s 725 Ponce building. 
✦Memento Gallery and Alday Hunken Gallery team up for new partnership✦  
Reporter Mitali Singh examines a radical new collaborative gallery model shaking up local art spaces. Gallery owners Madison Dailey of Memento Gallery in Virginia-Highland and Alfonso Alday Vergara of Alday Hunken Gallery discuss their shared curatorial vision. They dive into their debut joint exhibition, Held Traces, showing how the raw stone sculptures of Mexican artist Paula Cortazar and the haunting negative space in paintings by African-American artist Gabriel Choto reflect themes of migration, memory, and the decentralization of global art markets.
Special thanks to today’s sponsors:
Soul Food Cypher
Mainline Magazine
It’s UATL
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois' "Hit the Deck from her album "Astral Heart," courtesy of Wicked Superb Records.
☕Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here’s how to support the work we do☕  
 
00:00 Soul Food Cipher Freestyle Rap Sponsorship
01:30 Center for Puppetry Arts Stop-Motion Animation Exhibition
06:13 Julián González-Díaz Interview on Creative FLND Studios
13:05 Akazi ATL This Is Somewhere Photography Exhibition
18:05 Lucy Lukovich Dolly Exhibition Interview at Wolfgang Gallery
30:12 Best Bets
34:17 Julián’s Picks & Quick Q&A
34:39 Memento Gallery and Alday Hunken Gallery team up for new partnership
41:30 Fresh Jugo & Wordplay Collective Podcast Family Credits

This episode of the ATL Arts Collective spotlights Atlanta’s creative surge around the FIFA World Cup, featuring new city-commissioned murals, conversations with artists like Charity Hamidullah, Kyle Brooks, Melissa Mitchell, and Nick Turbo Benson’s Waffle House mural.We also cover the Atlanta Cultural Exchange at the CTR, spotlight Sheila Pree Bright’s Footwork exhibition at the Carlos Museum, ArtsATL’s Best Bets for the July 4th weekend, and community programs bringing art and sport together across the city.

✦ Guest co-host Chad Radford ✦ True Colors Theater presents Cinderella ✦ GULCH Magazine's Making it Work ✦ Kess Fest ✦ Elizabeth B. Stephens International Organ Competition ✦ Best Bets
 
✦This Week On The Show✦ 
This week’s guest co-host is Chad Radford! As the former longtime music editor for Creative Loafing and author of Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History, Chad has spent decades documenting the city's underground music scene. He shares the origin story of his website, RadATL, and explains how he single-handedly curates his new, independent live music and events calendar to help local music lovers avoid missing the best gigs in town. Chad will introduce and host a live-audience Q&A with Atlanta filmmaker James Schroeder for his new documentary, The Tree Economy, on June 26 at The Garden Club at Wild Heaven West End.
✦True Colors Theater Presents Cinderella✦ 
The True Colors Theatre production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella has officially taken over the Southwest Arts Center, bringing an all-Black, 1980s-inspired celebration of resilience to the stage. Directed and choreographed by Juel D. Lane, a College Park native in his directorial debut, the show infuses classic theater with ballroom voguing, breakdancing, and New Jack City fashion. Rising star singer Jai'len Josey performs as Cinderella, alongside former American Idol finalist LaToya London as Queen Constantina and Ithica Tell as the stepmother. ArtsATL writer Angela Oliver drops by to review why this production is the exact cultural medicine Atlanta needs right now. 
✦Gulch Magazine’s Making It Work: Patricia Hernandez✦ 
In this month's edition of Making It Work, Jasmine Hentschel of GULCH Magazine sits down with prominent Atlanta muralist and visual artist Patricia Hernandez. Patricia opens up about the reality of juggling freelance contractor gigs, multi-job survival skills, and parenting while pursuing a public art career in a rapidly changing city. She shares her personal experiences navigating the creative landscape as an immigrant and a woman of color and explains the mission behind her non-profit organization, Nuestra Creación, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to uplifting immigrant, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC creatives. Learn about their upcoming call for artists ahead of their October 5 exhibition at Echo Contemporary Arts, ensuring the next generation of Atlanta artists don't have to navigate the creative ecosystem alone.
✦Independent Music Advocacy and Kess Fest ✦  
We take a closer look at the upcoming Kess Fest benefit concert happening this Sunday at the historic Smith's Old Bar. Chad Radford highlights how the event,  founded by drummer and production manager Noah Kess, doubles as a crucial fundraiser for the Atlanta Musicians Emergency Relief Fund (AMERF), providing financial aid to local players and production techs in times of crisis. Get a preview of the unique lineup featuring bands whose members work behind the scenes in the local music industry, including Albatross, Nobody's Darlings, The Head, and the nine-piece Fourth Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra, followed by a special film screening of Homicide Don't Die and a set from DJ Full Frequency.
✦Global Virtuosos Headed to Buckhead✦  
We dive into the third biannual Elizabeth B. Stephens International Organ Competition at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Buckhead. ArtsATL music reporter Jordan Owen explores the profound legacy behind the competition, organized by Sally Stephens Westmoreland to honor her late mother. Discover how this prestigious event drew 72 global applications for just six finalist spots. Organist and music director Scott Atchison joins the conversation to discuss the unique, required performance of Pamela Decker's contemporary piece Kairos alongside traditional classical compositions, as international finalists compete for $21,000 in cash prizes. The final round takes place on June 27.
✦ ArtsATL Best Bets for the Week  ✦
ArtsATL Executive Editor Shane Harrison stops by with his highly anticipated weekly roundup of need link top cultural happenings around the city. Today, his curated mix includes the Southern Fried Queer Pride festival, the Classical Remix Festival’s Gala Concert, and a screening of High Fidelity with John Cusack.
Special thanks to today’s sponsors:
Motherlode
Mainline Magazine
It’s UATL
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois' "Hit the Deck from her album "Astral Heart," courtesy of Wicked Superb Records
☕ Want to buy the podcast a cup of coffee? Here's how to support the work we do. ☕

✦  Gulch’s Jasmine Hentschel and EC Famming  ✦ Atlanta Variety Shows ✦ WIT ✦ Best Bets ✦ Art News ✦  
 
✦This Week On The Show ✦ 
GULCH magazine’s Jasmine Hentschel and EC Flamming join as guest co-hosts today! We dive deep into the origin story of Gulch Magazine, Atlanta's premier print and digital visual art publication. The co-founders discuss their individual professional backgrounds, transitioning from tech startups and historic regional institutions like Art Papers to documenting the contemporary local art scene. They pull back the curtain on how they meticulously curate their comprehensive weekly art calendar on Instagram, and we learn about their massive new data-driven community research survey, which aims to analyze the behaviors, mental models, and needs of regional creators to spark actionable strategy ahead of the highly anticipated Atlanta Art Fair this October.
✦ Atlanta's Live Variety Revue Boom ✦ 
Ever since the pandemic shutdown, a unique breed of live variety entertainment has taken over the Atlanta theater scene. These recurring productions feature a wild mix of local performers aiming to lift the gloom with pure entertainment, community connection, and plenty of laughter. Arts ATL Editor-at-Large Benji Carr catches up with the creative minds behind these recurring shows to find out exactly what makes them tick. Gina Rickicki, an acclaimed Atlanta actress and improviser, shares the inspiration behind her hit monthly show, Joy Deficit, at Red Light Cafe in Midtown Atlanta. Discover why every performance kicks off with a therapeutic 13-second primal scream and how audience participation helps conquer isolation. Plus, puppet designer and clown Scottie Rowell discusses Down to Clown, a vintage game-show-inspired collaboration with Karie Vieira, and Nick Lynn-Rulon details the weekly open-mic performance, NoShame.
✦ Pulitzer Prize-Winning Drama "Wit" at Actors Express ✦ 
Atlanta radio legend Lois Reitzes returns to the microphone for a deeply nuanced conversation with Freddie Ashley, the Artistic Director of Actors Express. They explore the profound thematic layers of Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, Wit, which is at Actors Express theater in the King Plow Arts Center through June 28th. Freddie breaks down the tragic journey of Professor Vivian Bearing, a demanding scholar of 17th-century literature and the holy sonnets of John Donne, who must learn to shed her intellectual armor while battling stage four ovarian cancer. The discussion highlights the play's dual portrayal of healthcare through an ambitious young fellow and a nurturing nurse, its enduring legacy as an educational tool for teaching hospitals and medical schools, and playwright Margaret Edson’s enduring 30-year connection to local education as a teacher at Midtown High School. Freddie and Lois reflect on an emotional quote from Edson, sharing her ultimate desire for the production: that the audience leaves feeling fundamentally closer to the people they love.
✦ Nomadic curating & Tomorrow Mourning at the Hambidge Hive ✦  
GULCH’s Jasmine Hentschel and EC Flamming highlight the fascinating world of elsewhere, a roving, nomadic curatorial practice led by Anna Akpele. Operating outside the constraints of traditional "white wall" galleries, elsewhere activates alternative spaces like houses, apartments, and backyards. The duo reviews elsewhere's latest exhibition, Tomorrow Mourning, on view at the Hambidge Hive, a massive 30,000-square-foot industrial project space on the 15th floor of Uptown Atlanta in Lindbergh. Featuring artists Makita Lewis-Kanuthia, Scott Kightley, Ezekiel Robinson, and Stemlines, the exhibition explores heavy, intimate themes of impermanence, grief, loss, and the fluid space between denial and acceptance. 
✦ ArtsATL Best Bets for the Week  ✦
ArtsATL Executive Editor Shane Harrison joins the show to share his top cultural recommendations for the week. This week, his mix includes Juneteenth celebrations, the Georgia Shorts Film Festival, and a performance by Georgia’s own Empress of Soul, Gladys Knight.
✦ Atlanta Arts News Brief with Isadora Pennington ✦  
ArtsATL Senior Editor Isadora Pennington stops by with a celebratory look at the individuals and organizations shaping the local cultural footprint. Highlights include: The 21st Annual David C. Driscoll Prize, awarded by the High Museum of Art to Spelman University professor Dr. Cheryl Finley. SouthArts Grants celebrates writers Ashlee Haze and Kelundra Smith, The Goat Farm's Loop, and more.
 
Special thanks to today’s sponsors:
Motherlode
Mainline Magazine
It’s UATL
 
Want to buy the production team a coffee? Drop a one-time tip via Venmo
 
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective.
 
00:00:00 Sponsor open
00:01:33 Show Preview & Segment Rundown
00:02:10 Variety Reviews (Benji Carr)
00:08:40 Interview: GULCH Magazine Founders (Jasmine & EC)
00:15:02 Interview: Wit at Actors Express (Lois Reitzes & Freddie Ashley)
00:26:21 GULCH Feature: elsewhere at Hambidge/Hive (Tomorrow Mourning)
00:39:35 Arts ATL Best Bets (Shane Harrison)
00:44:04 Art News Roundup (Isadora Pennington)
00:48:39 Closing, Credits & Next Week Preview

✦ Guest co-host Sundiata Rush ✦ FIFA World Cup Murals ✦ Atlanta Cultural Exchange ✦ Nick Turbo Benson ✦ The Park at the Heart of Atlanta’s Olympics ✦ Best Bets ✦  Footwork: Where We Gather ✦ Beyond the Yellow Brick Road ✦
✦ This Week On The Show ✦ 
Storyteller and community builder Sundiata Rush joins the show as our guest co-host for our FIFA World Cup theme show. He’s the creator and producer behind “Tales of Downtown Atlanta.” Part podcast, part art exhibit, and part old-school mix tape, the series is an audiovisual anthology of our city. Featuring short stories written, voiced, and visually amplified by notable Atlantans, the series offers a spirited tour of historic downtown locations, influential legacies and people, and important events from the past, all while introducing the world to Atlanta’s soul. 
✦ Painting the Town: FIFA World Cup Murals ✦ 
In preparation for the FIFA World Cup, the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Downtown Atlanta Inc. commissioned a combined total of 21 brand-new public murals. Arthur Rudick, the mastermind behind the famous “Atlanta Street Art Map” and a regular contributor to ArtsATL, recently spoke with several powerhouse artists behind the new work, including Charity Hamidullah, Kyle"BlackCatTips" Brooks, and Melissa A. Mitchell. 
Event note: This Sunday at 4 PM, Arthur is giving a special Street Art Tour of Little 5 Points. Through his website and writing, Rudick has documented over 2,000 murals across metro Atlanta, and local artist Shadow Dancer has created a mural in front of the Little 5 Points Pub to celebrate this milestone. Congratulations Arthur!
✦ Inside the Atlanta Cultural Exchange ✦ 
The Atlanta Cultural Exchange, our city’s massive creative hub and official cultural platform during the FIFA World Cup, begins its activations this Sunday. Host Kim Drobes recently caught up with Adriane Jefferson, the executive director of the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, to learn more about the grand vision and community intention behind the Exchange.
✦ Scattered, Smothered, and Covered in Art ✦  
Artist Nick Turbo Benson has created a FIFA World Cup mural that incorporates one of Georgia’s most well-known institutions - Waffle House. ArtsATL senior editor Isadora Pennington recently caught up with Benson to learn more. 
✦ Audio Anthology: Tales of Downtown Atlanta ✦
Sundiata Rush is our Guest co-host today, and he’s brought us a story from his Tales of Downtown Atlanta series, titled, The Park at the Heart of Atlanta’s Olympics. Written by acclaimed Atlanta Magazine editor Betsy Riley, voiced by Woodruff Arts Center and Metro Atlanta Chamber leader Hala Moddelmog, with stunning visual artwork by Chaz Clark. Let this story inspire you to enjoy the FIFA Fan Festival at Centennial Olympic Park. It’s free and open to everyone, with 16 days of matches on a 40-foot screen, live concerts, Atlanta food vendors, and cultural programming. June 12 to July 15.
✦ ArtsATL Best Bets for the Week  ✦
ArtsATL Executive Editor Shane Harrison joins the show to share his top cultural recommendations for the week. His curated mix features a group exhibition at The Sunday ATL gallery, a performance from blues icon Selwyn Birchwood, and an evening with Grammy Award-winning neo-soul superstar Corinne Bailey Rae.
✦ Footwork: Where We Gather at Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum ✦  
“Footwork: Where We Gather,” is a powerful new photography exhibition at the Michael C. Carlos Museum by award-winning lens-based artist Sheila Pree Bright. The work is on view through July 19 and is part of Emory University’s broader, campus-wide "Footwork" initiative—a series of curated exhibitions celebrating the intersection of sport, style, and the spirit of a city ready to welcome the world. Kim Drobes recently attended a panel at Emory exploring the communities created by fandom, featuring Bright, Andi McKenzie, the Curator of Works on Paper for the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Francisco Stenger of Soccer in the Streets, and Bem Joiner, co-founder of Atlanta Influences Everything. 
✦ Pride Month: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road ✦ 
In celebration of Pride Month, the historic Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus is back on stage with their concert, "Beyond the Yellow Brick Road.” ArtsATL editor-at-large Jim Farmer stops by the microphone to give us an exclusive preview of what to expect from this legendary local musical institution.  
Special thanks to today’s sponsors:
Motherlode
Mainline Magazine
It’s UATL
 
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective
 
00:00:00 Motherlode Atlanta Vintage Market
00:01:22 Introducing Guest Co-Host Sundiata Rush
00:02:48 Atlanta Arts and Culture Weekend Preview
00:03:43 FIFA World Cup 2026 Public Art Murals Art Rudick Atlanta Street Art Map Report
00:11:38 Atlanta Cultural Exchange Launch City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Interview
00:16:09 Historic Downtown Atlanta Public History Project Overview
00:22:38 Nick Turbo Benson ATL Nighthawks at the Diner Waffle House Public Art Mural
00:34:03 Centennial Olympic Park 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games History Audio Documentary
00:43:14 ArtsATL Best Bets Weekend Event Guide with Shane Harrison
00:48:00 Sheila Pree Bright Footwork Where We Gather Photography Exhibition Review
00:52:36 Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus Beyond the Yellow Brick Road LGBTQ Pride Concert
00:58:54 Arts Journalism Podcast Production Credits and Next Week Preview
 

✦  Beth McKibben ✦ Basura ✦ WigOut ✦ The artistry of food plating ✦ Atlanta Opera’s new home ✦ Best Bets ✦   
(photo courtesy of Beth McKibben)
✦This Week On The Show ✦ 
Beth McKibben joins as co-host! She serves as both Editor-in-Chief and Dining Editor for Rough Draft Atlanta. She was previously the editor of Eater Atlanta and has covered food and drinks both locally and nationally for 15 years. Her work in local journalism truly makes her an Atlanta treasure.
 
Gloria Estefan, along with her daughter, Emily, wrote the songs for the world premiere musical "Basura," on stage at the Alliance starting May 30. (photo courtesy of Alliance Theatre) 
✦ Gloria Estefan’s Basura at Alliance Theatre ✦ 
The new musical Basura is having its world premiere run at the Alliance Theatre through July 12. Inspired by the true story of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra, the show features original songs by Grammy Award winner Gloria Estefan and her daughter, Emily Estefan. Basura is directed by Michael Greif, the creative behind the hit Broadway musical Rent, and, as ArtsATL editor at large Jim Farmer explains, this duo is just the start of the all-star creative team behind the new musical.
 
(photo courtesy of Lady Bunny and WigOut)
✦ WigOut Festival in East Atlanta ✦ 
How about a daytime drag festival in Georgia in June? That’s not just a party: it's an endurance test for glue and aerosol technology. This Saturday, the WigOut festival comes to the East Atlanta Community Garden. The community fundraiser celebrates pride, drag culture, and local Queer joy with special guests, including the legendary drag icon Lady Bunny, founder of New York's original WigStock. Atlanta drag superstar Ella Saurus Rex and Tony DiCaro, a driving force behind the party and a professional wig wrangler, sit down with Kim Drobes to preview the festivities.
 
(courtesy of Avize)
✦The Art of Culinary Plating ✦  
We really do eat first with our eyes. And nowadays, our phone cameras are next in line. Guest co-host Beth McKibben, speaks with Chef Demetrius Brown of Inman Park’s Bread & Butterfly and Chef Karl Gorline of Avize in West Midtown to find out how, and why top Atlanta chefs turn a simple dinner plate into an artistic canvas. 
 
Rendering of Rosemary Hall (photo courtesy of the Atlanta Opera)
✦ The Atlanta Opera’s New Multidisciplinary Home ✦  
We check in on the Atlanta Opera’s massive $43 million cultural expansion. ArtsATL reporter Doug DeLoach brings us a comprehensive update on the development of the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts, the state-of-the-art facility being constructed adjacent to the Atlanta BeltLine.
 
John Crist (Photo courtesy of Crist and Shore Fire Media)
✦ ArtsATL Best Bets for the Week  ✦
ArtsATL Executive Editor Shane Harrison joins the show to share his top cultural recommendations for the week. His curated mix features a wave of new local theater productions, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s season-closing concert, and comedian John Crist’s return to Georgia.
 
Special thanks to today’s sponsors:
Motherlode
Mainline Magazine
 
Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective.
 
 
00:00:00 Support: Mainline Magazine (Festival Announcement)
00:00:31 Welcome to the ATL Arts Collective — Show Intro & Teasers
00:01:04 Introducing Beth McKibbin — Co‑host Bio
00:02:08 Basura — New Musical with Gloria & Creative Team (Jim Farmer)
00:13:42 Meet Beth McKibbin — Career, Mentoring & Rough Draft
00:19:58 Wig Out Preview — Ella Saurus Rex & Tony DeCaro
00:28:49 The Art of Plating — How Chefs Create on a Plate (Beth McKibbin)
00:41:47 Molly Blank Center for Opera & the Arts — Atlanta Opera Update
00:51:01 ArtsATL Best Bets — Weekend Picks (Shane Harrison)
00:55:21 Closing, Credits & Patreon Call — Final Remarks
00:56:47 Next Week Preview & Credits