ELEVATE Microcosm will spark conversations with art events from Oct 13-21

September 13,2016

The theme of this year’s ELEVATE public art festival is Microcosm. Artists will explore how a community reflects the larger world around it. Four curators have assembled more than 200 artists to create contemporary art and cultural events in order to spark dialogue around how a community deals with social, racial, and economic issues ranging from inequity to gentrification. ELEVATE Microcosm will take place in south downtown Atlanta, primarily on Broad Street. This emerging cultural district seeks to use creativity to build community and inspire constructive change in collaboration with the area’s stakeholders. The festival will be held from Thursday, October 13 through Friday, October 21. All events are free and open to the public.

“Festival attendees will be able to engage with artists, historians, and area residents,” states Camille Russell Love, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “We hope people who live and work in Atlanta will participate. We also invite anyone who enjoys contemporary art, and is interested in exploring ideas around community. Our events will be lively, interesting, and provocative. We’ll have a fabulous block party, interactive art installations, dance performances, large-scale murals, panel discussions, and historic bike and walking tours. Make plans to join us.”

Here are just a few things you will experience during ELEVATE Microcosm:

Painter and visual storyteller Yoyo Ferro will create a large-scale mural on the side of the Atlanta Eye Care building at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Broad Street with help from members of the community.

Freestyle hip-hop lyricists Soul Food Cypher are known for their monthly cypher events, their nurturing of up-and-coming MCs, and youth mentoring workshops. They will bring their popular interactive wordplay to the streets of downtown, and invite people to participate in a conversation in rhyme.

Meptik will make an interactive light installation on Broad Street utilizing metal awnings built during the 1996 Olympics. The use of light as an artistic medium is intended to create an inviting and mesmerizing place for people to gather.

Innovative French dancer and choreographer Noé Soulier’s work embodies his experimental and intellectual approach to the art of movement. He will perform his latest creation, Removing.

ELEVATE Microcosm is being curated by Allie Bashuk, Monica Campana, Mark DiNatale and Pastiche Lumumba. Artists participating include DJ Bae, Bent Frequency, CHROMA, Elysia Crampton, Danielle Deadwyler (aka Didi Xio), Josephine Figueroa, Michel Kichka, Mike Luckovich, Tiona McClodden, William Mitchell and Jean “Plantu” Plantureux. Participating organizations include A3C, C4, Cartooning for Peace, France-Atlanta, Sistagraphy, Southern Fried Queer Pride and The Goat Farm. Events will be held at the Center for Civic Innovation, Downtown Player’s Club, Eyedrum, Gallery 72, Mammal Gallery and Murmur.

Sponsors for ELEVATE are Son & Sons, MailChimp, Living Walls, Fulton County Arts & Culture, Peachtree Tents & Events, LowCountry Catering and Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. Media Partners include: Creative Loafing and Scoutmob.

The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs vision is to enhance the quality of life through arts and culture, and to contribute positively to the social and economic health of Atlanta and the region. Their mission is to promote rich, diverse and educational cultural experiences; nurture artists and arts organizations; unify Atlanta’s cultural community; preserve and protect the city’s cultural heritage; and expand Atlanta’s international reputation as a cultural destination. ELEVATE is a program of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit: http://www.ocaatlanta.com/?programs=elevate.