EAST POINT, Ga. — Summer 2020 draws to a close here in metro Atlanta, believe it or not, and with it, dozens of events and activities planned that were left unfulfilled in the wake of a pandemic shutdown due to COVID-19.
Here in the Tri-Cities, less than a handful of events designated for the community actually came to fruition: the Inaugural Juneteenth festival, the Wednesday Wind Down Feed the Heroes Virtual Benefit, and the Fourth of July concert in Hapeville.
However, if you think that the staff and resident artists of the ArtsXchange, who have called the community cultural center it's home for the past 20 months, weren't going to get in on the action, then you’re sadly mistaken.
With the launch of its first COVID-compliant community event, the Cultural Connections at the ArtsXchange stepped up with little fanfare and rescued local residents from the waning dog days of summer.
My East Point News spoke with the Executive Director of the ArtsXchange, Carolyn Renée (Morris).
“We are all endowed with creativity, and our mission as human beings is to tap into that creativity and buck the notion that ‘time is money.’ Time is creativity," she said. "How are we spending our time? So, the pandemic called us for that. How are you creating?”
Located in the Colonial Hills neighborhood, the ArtsXchange building sits tucked away on Newnan Street in the same building that perhaps only longtime East Point residents will remember as the now-defunct Jere Wells Elementary School, sitting mere blocks away from Langford Parkway.
The Front Porch Concert Series, which was spearheaded by the Cultural Connections at the ArtsXchange program, utilized the location’s large front lawn to provide adequate room for all attendees. It split the itinerary into three individual engagements: dinner, artwork unveiling, and special music performance by contemporary violinist, Richard Punch.
“So far tonight’s event has definitely been a success. Despite the rain, the environment, and the COVID, it all came together,” said Moses Kilpatrick, ArtsXchange’s Program Director.
"We wanted to actually bring the community together to engage through the arts. So, besides this unveiling, we have Front Porch Concert here tonight. We called it the Cultural Connections.”
The socially-distant event was free to the public and began at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28. Food was first on the agenda. Local food truck Atlanta Seafood Company provided dinner. Incorporating current-day themes as well, the second item on the evening’s itinerary was unveiling the "Icons of Art & Social Justice Outdoor Art Murals," featuring murals from a group of selected local artists in response to the current transformative global Black Lives Matter movement.
The winning artists/muralists are Darlene Deloris (aka Lena Love), Temika Grooms, Muhammad Suber, and Hapeville Councilmember, Chloe Alexander. The murals are to be mounted prominently on the exterior of the building in the near future.
The evening closed out with an unexpectedly electrifying performance by contemporary violinist, Richmond Punch, who wove through the audience playing his instrument as if it were an electric guitar instead of a violin.
Even the rain didn’t deter the crowd, who not only showed up to support but also to enjoy a Friday evening anywhere else but at home on the couch. The event itself almost felt like a defiant act of artistic expression mixed with community outreach. The ArtsXchange poked its head out of the ground like Punxsutawney Phil, declaring under no uncertain terms, an end to the summer of our discontent.
Preview of September Events:
- Cost to residents: FREE
- Sept 5 — Oct 3 — Nov 7
- 1pm until 7pm
- Hosted by Theresa Davis (via Zoom)
- Cost to residents: FREE
- 8 pm
- Sept 11 — Oct 9 — Nov 13
- Jack Sinclair Gallery
- Curator by Lisa Tuttle
- In-person: Pre-register only or virtual
- September 19, 2020 — October 31, 2020
- Virtual Artist Talk – Sat. October 9, 2020 (2 pm)
- Virtual event | Facebook Live
- Mondays — Sept 28 | Oct 26 | Nov 30
- 3 pm — 4 pm
- Hosted by Carolyn Renée & Dianne Mathiowetz
- Hosted by Theresa Davis
- Virtual event | Facebook Live
- Sunday, Sept 27 | Oct 25 | Nov 22
- 2 pm – 4 pm
For more information about the ArtsXchange community cultural center, visit their website and for more about the Cultural Connections at the ArtsXchange, click here.
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