The Atlanta BeltLine continually brings people together in new ways. Most recently, it has served as the classroom and collaborative space for tomorrow’s art professionals. As part of a new collaboration with the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI)’s arts and culture department welcomed a group of students to the Westside Trail for an educational workshop on Public Art Conservation.
Housed within the Department of Art & Visual Culture at Spelman College, the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective aims to shape the future of the art world and position the Atlanta University Center as the leading incubator of African American professionals in the fields of curation, art history, and art.
“Public art and public art conservation are very different from the art experience in galleries or museums,” shared Miranda Kyle, Arts and Culture Program Manager and Curator of Art on the Atlanta BeltLine. “As host of the largest temporary public art exhibition in the Southeast, we have an incredible opportunity to introduce students to the beauty, complexities and challenges of public art.”
The one-day workshop included an overview of the Art on the Atlanta BeltLine (AOAB) exhibition and an explanation of public art conservation by AOAB Conservator, Jeremee Prioleau. Students also had an opportunity to work on a public art remediation project: the 2018 Family Paint Day mural on the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail.
“Careers that inspire change” is a guiding principle of our program. We want students to experience the impact a career in art history and curatorial studies can have on the world around them,” explained Rachel Brown Rachel Brown, Program Manager for the AUC Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective. “For this event, we collaborated with The Bonner Office of Civic Engagement at Spelman and The Bonner Office of Community Service at Morehouse to connect students to the engaged work of Art on the Atlanta BeltLine. This event and our collaboration demonstrated our principle in real time, through the work of Art Conservation. We’re looking forward to future collaborations!”
