Why investing in Atlanta’s Creative Youth Should Also Include an Investment in Atlanta’s Arts Educators
By: Elisabeth Herrera-Very for C4
Atlanta is known for it’s vibrant, diverse, expanding arts community. From the amazing street art adorning our neighborhoods to blockbuster film projects; we have so much art to celebrate. Atlanta seems like a likely place to invest in the future of it’s arts community, however, the accessibility of arts education for Atlanta’s youth tells a different story. Wouldn’t it make sense to grow our own artists within the educational institutions we already have established? Wouldn’t more arts programming in our public schools add only greatness to our already robust arts scene? A greater emphasis on the arts sounds like an amazing idea but for that to happen we need to invest in supports for our arts educators.
All students in Georgia do not have equal access to a quality education in the arts. Data collected by the Georgia Council for the Arts (2015) show that nearly 40% of Georgia’s youth do not have access to high quality visual arts education, this means that students are being taught by a person who is not certified to teach visual arts, and 19% of those students do not have access to visual arts education at all. Arts disciplines such as theater arts have an even lower amount of high quality teachers in the field with 76% of Georgia’s youth going without any access to theater programs in their school (Bell, 2015, p. 17). One may ask, why don’t schools hire more arts educators? Historically, arts have been undervalued in public schools with little to no investment in growing arts programs, however, a more pressing problem is having access to high quality arts educators to fill those vacancies in the event that a school or district decides to invest in the arts. Keeping high quality educators in the field is problematic due to ever increasing teacher turnover.
In Georgia, like across our nation, teacher turnover is high. The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education stated in it’s Top Ten Issues to Watch in 2019 report that 13% of Georgia’s teachers leave the profession after only one year and 44% of teachers leave the field by their fifth year (GPEE, 2019, p.24). This high level of teacher turnover costs our public schools over 2 billion dollars every year (Phillips, 2015, para. 3). Many factors contribute to this alarming rate of attrition (teachers leaving the field) but the lack of supports for teachers is high on the list of reasons. The findings from GADOE’s “Georgia’s Teacher Dropout Crisis” survey (2015) show that one of the main reasons teachers leave the field in Georgia is the lack of professional development (Owens, 2015, p.4).
As a visual arts teacher, I have spent the past near decade working in a variety of metro-Atlanta districts serving traditionally underserved populations. I have seen first-hand how the lack of supports for teachers affect the success of students. With pay freezes and furloughs, high-stakes testing, and general apathy or disregard towards the profession by the public it isn’t hard to see why so many people choose to leave the field. This is especially problematic in the fields of fine arts. So many principals do not have an understanding of what we do and so many school districts see us as extraneous additions to the curriculum. When a trained professional is treated as one of the least important members of the staff it is hard to maintain morale. In the majority of metro-Atlanta districts arts teachers exist on an island of isolation. Being the only art teacher in a school can be lonely; there is no one to bounce ideas off of, no one who speaks the language of the arts fluently, and sadly, no room to grow. Sitting on the lowest rung of the ladder year after year is exhausting and disheartening. Upon sharing my findings with a group at C4 one member stated that her husband had been a theater teacher but chose to leave the field. She stated matter of factly “…and he was such a good teacher”. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. Those of us who have a true passion for teaching in the arts are often crushed by the lack of supports or lack of access to supports.
I share these findings with the intent of sparking conversation in regard to what we value about the arts in Atlanta and the correlation between growing our artists and supporting our arts educators. Investing in Atlanta’s creative industries means investing in the educators who nurture and facilitate the growth of those creatives. We have all turned to someone to learn something new at some point in our life and those experts in their field supported us. Now it’s our turn to support those who teach in the arts because without their expertise our vibrant arts community will fade and for some of our most creative kiddos, their most effective means of communication with their world will cease to grow.
Resources:
Bell, A. (2015). Arts Education in Georgia: Public School Data and Principal Perspectives. Retrieved April 15, 2019, from https://www.georgia.org/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2018/07/Arts-Education-Research-Report.pdf
Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (2019). Top Ten Issues to Watch in 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019, from http://www.gpee.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GPEE-Top-Ten-2019-Final_1-7-19.pd
Owens, S. J. (2015). Georgia’sTeacher Dropout Crisis A Look at Why Nearly Half of Georgia Public School Teachers are Leaving the Profession. Retrieved April 15, 2019, from https://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/communications/Documents/Teacher%20Survey%20Results.pdf
Phillips, O. (2015, March 30). Revolving Door Of Teachers Costs Schools Billions Every Year. Retrieved April 15, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/03/30/395322012/the-hidden-costs-of-teacher-turnover
C4 Atlanta Expands Space to Offer More Studio Space for Artists In South Downtown
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Atlanta, GA – C4 Atlanta announces a space expansion to provide more studio opportunities to Atlanta-based, artists. C4 has signed a lease to become a tenant at 132 Mitchell Street.
After being at the M Rich Building since 2012, the nonprofit arts organization will be doubling its current space capacity. In addition to artist studios, the new arts center will offer offices for small arts businesses and nonprofits. The space will have two common area rooms for meetings or workshops. C4 Atlanta has a target move-in date of May 1, 2019. The space has a new HVAC system, elevator, and buildout is to begin soon for a fully ADA compliant bathroom. The new arts space will also be renovated with new floors and paint before move-in.
The expansion is part of an effort to keep arts workers from being fully displaced from South Downtown. With new development coming, real estate prices are expected to escalate. This trend is happening in Atlanta and other major cities across the United States.
As part of a program expansion tied to the space, C4 Atlanta will be receiving a $10,000 grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation to pilot a new incubation program that combines professional development and coaching with studio space for artists. C4 Atlanta works with a diverse array of artists that includes visual artists, performing artists, film makers, musicians, and curators.
“We are excited about this move. Our team has been exploring this possibility for several years,” said Jessyca Holland, co-founder and Executive Director. “At one point, we thought we may have to leave downtown but we found a space that fits our vision for the next several years, and we get to stay in the heart of the city of Atlanta.”
132 Mitchell is owned by Winter Properties. The building is located near public transit. C4 Atlanta will rent out the top floor.
“We are excited to be a part of C4 Atlanta’s next growth phase. The arts are important to the fabric of South Downtown,” stated Stacy Crane of Winter Properties.
The organization is now seeking artists who are in need of a studio or small art businesses that need office space. For more information, please email actionteam@c4atlanta.org.
About C4 Atlanta:
C4 Atlanta Inc. is a non-profit arts service organization whose mission is to connect arts entrepreneurs to the people, skills and tools they need to build a successful artistic career in metro Atlanta. The organization was founded in July 2010 in response to a growing need for business services for Atlanta’s arts community. C4 Atlanta fulfills this mission by offering professional practice classes for artists, fiscal sponsorship, co-working space, and advocacy for arts workers. C4 Atlanta’s program offerings are geared toward creating a new foundation of sustainability for arts and culture in the Atlanta region. For more information, visit c4atlanta.org.
C4 Atlanta is proud to announce that nominations for our 5th Annual Leading Ladies in the Arts Blog Series are now open! Each year during Women’s History Month, C4 Atlanta looks to recognize the women making extraordinary contributions to the Atlanta arts community.
Nominations are open to any femme-identifying persons in all artistic disciplines, including arts technicians and administrators. You can nominate yourself or another artist. Nominations may also be made anonymously, if preferred. Once nominated, each nominee will be sent information about completing their blog submission for the series.
The deadline to submit a nomination is March 15, 2019.
Look for blogs to be released on a rolling basis throughout the month as they are submitted.
Vito in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in a costume he designed and built.
“Any acrobatics? Tell us more about your rope spinning.”
How many of you have gone to an audition and have been asked similar questions by the folks behind the table at your audition? For me, personally, it happens all the time.
When I first moved to New York City in 1995 to pursue a career in Musical Theatre, the buzz word flying around was “Triple Threat.” For those who don’t know what that means, it refers to being a Singer, Dancer and Actor. What more could Producers and Directors want? That was the whole package!
Back then (and still true today) many dancers, were strictly dancers, some could sing, but their forte was dance. They were known as Dancers who
sing. Singers on the other hand, same scenario, were Singers who could dance or Singers Who Move Well. No one really asked you if you could act, they just assumed you could. They would know more if they handed you sides to study.
In todays competitive world of Musical Theatre, Film and Television, its almost demanded that we have a special skill to make us stand out, to land that role. This is true especially in Musical Theatre where shows are much more flashy, technical and exciting! Take the recent revival of Pippin! You get the picture? Our special skills are just as important as our singing/dancing and acting lessons.
Before I found my way into musical theatre, I just happen to have many special skills. I learned because I was interested in them, not because I needed them for my resume. Here’s my list of special skills that I love to rattle off to folks for fun, but they are all true.
I am a Singer/Dancer/Actor/ Acrobat/Puppeteer/Stilt Walker/Unicyclist/
Juggler/Improv Actor/Writer/Costume Designer. In fact at one point, below
my special skills on my resume, I was bold and wrote “Creative Beyond
Belief.”
Vito as an acrobat in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
I learned all these skills bit by bit as time went by. I learned how to ride a unicycle at age 9 because a unicycle club came and performed at my elementary school. As a kid, I was also a springboard diver. I competed in high school and was a scholarship athlete in college. I had always been acrobatic and one day, while hanging around my church gym, I took those diving skills and transferred them into tumbling skills, which lead me to being a Varsity Cheerleader for 3 years. After college, I worked at Walt Disney World where I learned how to be a puppeteer and stilt walker, which were jobs within my job as a character performer and dancer. Eventually that lead me to dance classes and Musical Theatre.
When I moved to NYC and had a real resume, I would be at auditions and the producers would glance down and look at my special skills and almost always ask about my acrobatics. In fact, I got 90% of my jobs because of my special skills.
In 1997, I auditioned for the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I went in and sang and they asked me to return for a call back. Before I walked away, something compelled me to speak up about being an acrobat. It’s important that when you have the opportunity to sell what makes you unique, you do it! The folks behind the table lit up and said when I returned for my callback, I could tumble for them. The next day at the dance call, they asked me to tumble and I did a few tricks for them. I got the job and spent 15 months on the road.
I am now in the Atlanta Gay Mens Chorus and currently working at Stone Mountain Park during their Pumpkin Festival. I was called in to audition at Stone Mountain Park after I was seen at Unifieds. I was asked to prepare a comedic monologue and a song. I did my monologue then sang my song. They (and there were 4 folks behind the table that day) looked down at my special skills and began to ask about each special skill one by one. One director literally said “Stop, I didn’t hear a word after you said Costume Designer.” He was still trying to process that when the others where already asking about my circus skills and my puppeteering. Clearly I got the job. But I actually got 3 separate jobs from that one audition. I was hired as a Puppeteer, an Improv Actor and a Costume Designer. Here’s the kicker, I am also riding my Unicycle in a parade as well as Juggling. 5 skills utilized!
Life is a journey. We learn new things that lead us to other new things. As performers, we have a world of opportunity to learn new special skills.
Atlanta has more and more quality theaters opening all the time, plus more tv shows and movies filming here. I encourage you to seek out a
Puppeteering class, an acrobatics/tumbling class, a circus skills class. Make yourself more marketable. There’s a reason it’s called a Play.
C4 Atlanta collaborates with local artists to encourage people to vote in the 2018 Midterm Elections
DATE: Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Atlanta, GA – C4 Atlanta is excited to collaborate with sound artists, Meredith Kooi and Floyd Hall on Vote With Your heART, a civic engagement project designed to encourage people, especially the under-35 age group, to vote in the 2018 Midterm elections. This project is nonpartisan. Vote With Your heART is generously supported by the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta through a $5,000 award from their Civic Engagement Fund. Part art project, part civic intervention, Vote With Your heART is an invitation to the citizens of Atlanta to vote on November 6, 2018.
Vote with Your heART seeks to encourage Atlanta citizens, particularly young voters, to participate in the voting process
through a simple invitation to join the process. Floyd and Meredith have captured the stories of local residents’ experiences with civic participation. Through our public art instillation and website, passersby can listen to these compelling stories from Atlantans of diverse backgrounds and points of view. The temporary installation will be located at two local universities this fall and in Woodruff Park during Atlanta Streets Alive.
During the in-person events, students and other participants are invited to record their own stories and reactions
with local artists Floyd Hall and Meredith Kooi. Participants will have the chance to share their stories inside Meredith Kooi’s Buckminster geodesic dome, known as the Bucky Dome. These stories will be broadcast over an internet radio channel during
Additionally, research tell us that many people do not participate in the voting process because no one asked them. C4 Atlanta will be literally inviting people to participate in their community through voting. Designer and printmaker Lennie Gray Mowris is designing an actual handmade letterpress invitation to be a part of our democratic process.
“The website serves as a repository for stories about voting and civic engagement,” said Jessyca Holland, C4’s Executive Director. “But it also serves as a place where anyone in Georgia with internet access can learn about voter registration, polling location, and it links to information about the candidates. By setting up the listening dome we hope to engage with as many people as possible. Maybe this project will give us better insight into how people in Georgia feel the political process.”
Atlanta Streets Alive – Activity PartnerWoodruff Park, Downtown September 30, 2018 Free & Open to the public
About C4 Atlanta:
C4 Atlanta Inc. is a non-profit arts service organization whose mission is to connect arts entrepreneurs to the people, skills and tools they need to build a successful artistic career in metro Atlanta. The organization was founded in July 2010 in response to a growing need for business services for Atlanta’s arts community. C4 Atlanta fulfills this mission by offering professional practice classes for artists, fiscal sponsorship, co-working space, and advocacy for arts workers.C4 Atlanta’s program offerings are geared toward creating a new foundation of sustainability for arts and culture in the Atlanta region. For more information, visit c4atlanta.org.
With the continous rise of social media, creatives often wonder why it’s important to still have a website. Instagram allows you to collect your profiles data analytics, connect with your audience , sell ads, and essentially expand your brand. However, there are still many incidents where popular influencers pages have gotten hacked and they’ve had to start all the way over. Your website is YOURS! This is where people are coming to learn about you. The question becomes, why should your audience visit your website? They can visit your Instagram , Facebook, and Snapchat to see what you’ve been up to. Here’s five ways that you can optimize your website and keep your audience coming back for more.
Update your website frequently – Keeping your audience engaged with what your doing is very important. Make sure that whatever new projects you’ve been working on or new achievements you’ve made in your career are featured on your website. Some artists have content that is exclusivley for their website. When you update your website frequently, you’re giving your audience a reason to constantly check your page for new content.
2. Offer discounted prices or promotions for people who join your mailing list through your website –
People LOVE discounts! They’re also intrigued by recieving incentives for actively engaging with your platform. Once you’ve collected contact information from your audience you now have the power to engage with them more frequently. You’re able to see what they like, what they care about, and invite them to your shows/events outside of social media.
3. Use social media to drive traffic to your website –
Whenever you post a new video, put new artwork up for sale, post a blog, or an article that you like, let people know on your social media pages that there’s something new up on your website.. As a performing artist, I will often post a teaser performance video and tell people to view the entire video on my site. Make sure that you’re utilizing your Instagram and Facebook stories along with posting on your page.
4. Use your data analytics from your website to create your own marketing strategy –
Knowing what your audience is interested in and how many times their visiting your site isn’t enough when you don’t know how to use the data to expand your brand. Anaylze your site data and come up with marketing strategies based off of what your audience wants. For example, if my unique visitors
5. Sell ad space/ offer ad space in exchange for sponsorship –
When I started reaching out to potential sponsors for my debut concert, I created a sponsorship package which included ad space as perk for sponsoring the event. This is a way to generate income based off of how many people view your site. It provides an incentive to create new business realtionships.
Whether you’ve had your website for years or just starting out, these are great tips to help you stay up to date in the constantly changing digital world. People are interested in receiving information and content in real time! These tips can help to make your website the go to place for content in your artistic field. If you’re thinking about starting a website or revamping your own, sign up for our Website Bootcamp class happening Tuesdays, Sept 25 – Oct 16, 2018 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.
Art by Bethany Pelle – The Good Feelings. Site specific installation of over 1,500 slip cast porcelain flowers created as part of the East Row Garden Walk in Newport, KY. Photo by Bethany Pelle.
C4 Atlanta is proud to announce the twelve artists selected into the Hatch Training Intensive for Fall 2017. This will be the fourth cohort of artists that have participated in the Hatch Program since it was started in 2015.Over the next four months these artists will learn skills for creating art projects with community, with a final culminating public presentation on December 16, 2017.
The Hatch Training Intensive was established as a training program through C4 Atlanta in October 2015 with the generous support of the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation. The course is a result of three years of collaboration, research and curriculum development with both national and local experts in the field of community driven art projects. The purpose of the program is to address the skills needs of artists working in a variety of community contexts. The artists work independently and in groups to build skills for a variety of different community work. While many of the artists who participate are already active in community projects, others seek out the program in order to gain the skills and vocabulary necessary for more specialized work such as urban development or planning projects.
Art by Tiffany LaTrice – In Memory of Mary Turner. In Memory of Mary Turner is a tribute to the life of Mary Turner and other women subjected to mob violence and lynching during Jim Crow South. Photo by Sarah Gormley.
A major program focus is building “soft” skills in cultural organizing, understanding and establishing identity, identifying key community stakeholders, and working with community in ways that are sustainable for both artists and community members. In addition, one thing that makes the Hatch Training Intensive unique from other community art programs is that it also emphasizes important career development skills necessary to do social and civic practice work, including working with city planners, applying for RFPs/RFQs, negotiation and budgeting.
“Through this training program, we hope to provide greater access to resources for artists doing community work,” said Executive Director Jessyca Holland. “We’re incredibly proud of the work our past Hatch artists are doing around Atlanta, regionally, and even internationally. ”
Star Taker. Lead Artist – Alison Hamil, with a team of 4 other student artists. Located in Argostoli, Kefalonia, Greece, the mural references celestial navigation in Ancient Greece.
“We want to make sure that not only do the artists benefit from the training, but that they also benefit from working with each other so closely, ” said Education Manager Audrey Gámez. “There is a lot of hands-on group work in this program, which helps with developing skills for collaboration and broadens the participants’ artistic networks.”
Selection of artists for this cohort was made by an independent committee of public art professionals who work directly with artists. The committee included Katherine Dirga of MARTA Artbound, Brandon Jones of WonderRoot, and Josh Phillipson of the Atlanta Regional Commission.
Artists selected to the Spring 2017 Hatch Training Intensive include:
Photo by Haylee Anne
Angela Bortone – Painter, Video Artist, Arts Critic
Angela Bortone is a painter, video artist and freelance art critic. She mixes other people’s voices into her paintings and videos. Born in the Dominican Republic, Bortone was raised in Brooklyn and spent nearly a decade abroad in Germany before moving to Atlanta in 2002. She earned a BFA in studio art with a concentration in drawing, painting and printmaking from Georgia State University in 2010.
Sally Eppstein – Sculptor, Visual Artist
Sally was raised in Augusta, Georgia but her first real education was moving to New York City and going to school at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Living in the city and being exposed to so much diversity with all the different nationalities and so many art museums was a huge part of her education. She majored in jewelry where she did both design and studio work. After Sally completed the associate program, she moved back to her hometown to complete her B.F.A. at Augusta College (now Augusta State University).
After receiving her B.F.A, Sally taught art for 10 years to kindergartners through high school students in both public and private schools. While teaching she continued her art practice by selling jewelry and paintings throughout the southeast.
The biggest influence in Sally’s art has always been nature. Her latest series of paintings has focused on different feathers of song birds, birds of prey, and waterfowl. As part of her Artist-in-residence at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve she made an eight foot tall stainless steel feather sculpture. Sally sees feathers as being so fragile just as she sees our environment which has inspired her to be come a big tree activist.
Sally was inspired to start to do sculpture when she saw the Art on the Beltline and it is amazing how many skills that she had learned from her jewelry training have translated for her large totems.
Other achievements are getting into Vermont Studio Center, being awarded the first Artist-in-residence at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, being awarded an Emerging Artist Award for the Gasparilla Festival in Tampa, FL and being a part of Art Leaders of Metro Atlanta with Atlanta Regional Commission 2016.
Bria Goeller is passionate about art and social change. Bria works in a multitude of mediums including photography, film, 2D visual art, sound art, graphic design, creative writing and illustration/comics. Already a leader in her own right, Bria has been the Director of Design & Technology for TEDxEmory, Executive VP of Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, Executive Board Member for the Homeless Outreach Awareness Project, Founding Member and Design Chair of MR.MA’AM: Emory’s Queer Literary and Art Journal, and Genre and Visual Arts Editor for The Pulse Anthology. Bria is currently a student at Emory University studying English/Creative Writing and Interdisciplinary Studies.
S. Promised Gourdet – Culinary Arts, Photographer, Stylist
Promised Land Kitchen explores the intersection of food, imagination, taste and community. Promised has partnered with community gardens, local food purveyors and food justice advocates in the fight for food sovereignty in under-served communities in metro Atlanta. She strives to address the urgency in addressing malnutrition and food insecurity in our communities, and the link between dietary habits and overall health and wellness.
Photo by Hoberman Studios.
Rachel Graf Evans – Theatre Artist, Composer
Rachel Graf Evans is a writer and theatre artist most interested in the telling of forgotten and silenced stories.
Rachel Graf Evans grew up in in Baltimore, Jerusalem, and Jakarta, before attending Quaker boarding school in Westtown, PA. After one year in the musical theatre performance training program at NYU – CAP21, she transferred to Oberlin College. She graduated from Oberlin with High Honors BA in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, as well as a BA in theatre, for the writing and composition of Vessel: A New Musical. RGE currently serves as the Dramatists Guild Regional Young Ambassador for Atlanta, is a member of Working Title Playwrights, and recently completed a Playwright Apprenticeship at Horizon Theatre Company. Her work can be read on the New Play Exchange.
Prior to Atlanta, RGE spent four years in NYC working in various capacities (including as playwright, producer, props designer, and/or performer) with New Georges, LCT3 at Lincoln Center, PowerOutNYC, Hot Pepper Theatre, York Theatre Company, Fresh Fruit Festival and Theatre for the New City’s Dream Up Festival.
She is an Associate Member of the NYC women’s barbershop chorus Sirens of Gotham.
Alison Hamil – Visual Artist, Graphic Designer
Alison Hamil’s creative spark began at an early age. As a child, she was constantly building, sculpting, making, and creating. She fondly remembers doing imaginative things like constructing a robot entirely out of recycled materials on a whim, and holding an art show at a pop-up gallery in her parents’ garage. Throughout her childhood, she won several art contests, and decided to be a cartoonist in fourth grade. That didn’t quite pan out, but she wasn’t far off.
In high school, Alison realized that she was the only student not using ceramics class as an excuse to slack off, so she decided to pursue formal training and a career in art. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Georgia State University with a concentration in Drawing and Painting in 2010. She also studied the art of graphic design while she was in school, and now specializes in using what she’s learned to bridge the gap between technology and traditional drawing and painting.
Currently, Alison is a working artist in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. She has a diverse body of work including murals, sign painting, graphic design, paintings on paper, and drawings. Most of her work incorporates bold colors, patterns, symmetry, and bright colors.
Alison has been awarded several scholarships, and was named Best Emerging Visual Artist in Creative Loafing’s Best of Atlanta 2013. Although she is based in Atlanta, Georgia, she has painted murals in various places across the globe including Nicoya, Costa Rica, and Kefalonia, Greece, and several various towns throughout North Carolina. She has exhibited in Kibbee Gallery, Mason Murer Gallery, The Granite Room, MOCA GA, MINT Gallery and Gallery 1526, and she has been included in several art showcases in Atlanta, including the 2013-15 and 2017 Hambidge Art Auction and Performance Gala.
Erin Hayes – Plant Artist
After returning to Atlanta from teaching in international schools in the United Arab Emirates and Brazil, Erin Hayes found herself back in her hometown of College Park, Georgia eager to get involved in the revitalization efforts taking place around Atlanta. As a third generation educator, Erin has long realized the role that education plays in one’s life. Hailing from a long line of gardeners, Erin brings her varied interests in city development, education and horticulture as well as her experiences from living abroad to the forefront of her work. After the passing of a dear friend in March of 2017, Erin began to seek ways to honor his legacy by bringing city-dwellers closer to their natural world. She conceived the idea of combining enterprise, urban farming and horticulture along with education to address the accessibility gaps that largely affect young men and women in her community.
Christopher Jones – Graphic Designer, Visual Artist
Christopher Jones is the founder of SeeJones Creative, LLC, a creative services firm that helps mission-driven organizations and visionary leaders expand their reach through impactful visual communications. Notable projects include: a community mural in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood; helping a local co-working space to build a sense of community within its space through incorporating hand-drawn chalk murals on its walls; developing brand identity and marketing collateral for several non- and for-profit entities.
Christopher earned a BFA in graphic design from The University of Tennessee and an MBA in Marketing from Lincoln Memorial University. His career path has revolved around serving in leadership roles and providing corporate communications for non-profits. Chris feels that because of his background in service to his community, he understands the challenges that the organizations that he works with have faced.
Krista Jones (“Jonesy”) – Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Muralist
Jonesy is an Atlanta based Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Muralist. She has over a decade of professional graphic design experience and provides services in print advertising and design, logos, branding, illustration, hand-painted signage, residential and commercial murals. Her public art can be seen in Decatur and Avondale Estates and her illustrations in local shops around Atlanta. She is a published designer, writer and illustrator. Jonesy’s artwork has been featured multiple times on the cover of Aquarius Magazine. Some of her clients include: Atlanta BeltLine, Unscripted Way, Sustainable Wellness, Aquarius Magazine, Brandshake Creative, Precision Performance Atlanta, Expression Chiropractic, Virtually Staging Properties, Lake Claire Community Land Trust and City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
Tiffany LaTrice – Visual Artist, Curator, Arts Administrator
Tiffany Latrice is an Atlanta based visual artist, curator and arts administrato. In her work, she seeks to understand the psychology of human emotion through the female body. The female body is used as a means to unveil the variety of emotions, especially the emotions that are hidden deep within a woman. She has always been passionate about women’s stories and how she depicts those stories on canvas. With a degree in international relations with a concentration in gender, culture, and global society from the University of Southern California and a masters in women’s history from Sarah Lawrence College, her art is a feminist statement that seeks to combat androcentric world views of women’s role in society. Through her compositions and texture, she tells the story of marginalized voices and systematic oppression. By the use of bold colors and vivid brush strokes, she moves women from marginalized spaces to spaces of power and agency. She combats objectification and commodification by allowing the viewer to undergo a journey through the elaborate imagery that she depicts on the canvas.
Tiffany is the Founder and Executive Director of TILA Studios, a visual arts incubator, co-working and shared gallery space serving female visuals artists in Metro Atlanta area. Located in East Point, GA, TILA Studios strives to be a place where women can work, collaborate, and exhibit to create a more inclusive art industry where women’s voices are heard and recognized.
L S Lewis – Sculptor, Fabricator, Writer, Actor, Comedian
Working in mixed media to accurately express the emotional language that underlies current events, L S Lewis’ work captures human processes in various struggles in a relatable and often humorous manner. L S has participated in several group gallery shows and has independently undertaken public installations. She resides in Atlanta, GA.
Bethany Pelle – Ceramicist, Arts Educator
Bethany Pelle is an artist, craftsperson, and educator with over four years teaching experience at the university level. Bethany has twelve years of technical experience in support of academic, commercial and private ceramics studios. She is an ardent supporter of greater inclusivity, equality, and social justice. Bethany is currently an Adjunct Professor at Northern Kentucky University. Bethany brings a breadth of perspective and connections to the diverse art communities in Miami, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and New York.
The selected artists will present their final public presentation on December 16, 2017 from 2-4pm at Fuse Arts Center. Hatch artists will present group projects that represent hypothetical community scenarios which they may encounter as part of their work. Though the prompts are hypothetical, all are based on actual RFPs or Calls for Artists. These projects allow the artist to exercise skills learned in Hatch without fear of harm to themselves or an actual community during the learning process. More information and RSVP for the final presentations will be available online at c4atlanta.org/training at a later date.
For more information about the Hatch Training Intensive, please visit c4atlanta.org/hatch.
The last Friday of every month, C4 Atlanta features a new episode of our podcast Techsmarts | Art + Technology. Listen, Rate and Subscribe on iTunes and Soundcloud.
TechsmARTs Podcast : Episode 3 | Engaging Your Following, with Brock Scott of Little Tybee
Brock Scott performs with his band Little Tybee at C4 Atlanta’s recent #ActivateATL concert. Photo by Haylee Anne Kitties.
Featuring: Brock Scott, sculptor, visual artist and musician.
Brock Scott of Little Tybee stops by C4 Atlanta to talk about social media and artistic creation to engage your following. Scott explains how he and his bandmates transcend the traditional cycle of audience engagement for musicians and create a unique artistic experience for their fans. What do 6 radios, over a hundred fans and locations across the world have to do with creating one of their most successful music videos?
Check out the video for “Quiet As a Sail”, which utilized videos from all over the world of footage containing the transistor radios altered by Brock Scott.
On August 5, 2017, C4 Atlanta hosted a TechsmARTs Conversation on Digital Documentation and Storytelling. Our friends at MOCA GA graciously hosted this conversation. Speakers Kimberly Binns and Reis Birdwhistell lead presentations for artists who don’t work in documentation mediums such as film and photography on the basics of documenting work. Both artists document work for other artists in the community, including photographing performance and visual art and documentary filmaking.
Reis talked about the basic needs for photographing work or performance. In particular, he emphasized that in order to get the shot you really want, taking time to experiment with different filters, light placement and effects while shooting can help eliminate time spent editing. Including a grey card or industry standard color card in the periphery of the shot (to be edited out later) can help a printer to find the proper color for accurate reproductions. For performance, preparation is key to getting quality images. Seeing a dress rehearsal beforehand can help with informing camera placement and which scenes have the best lighting for photography. Some scenes can also be staged out for the photographer as tableaus so that you can achieve the proper look and feel in a more controlled environment outside of the performance.
Kimberly’s presentation focused primarily on representing yourself through the story you’d like to tell about your art. As an example, Kimberly showed a clip from her series Maker_ in which she documents the work of Atlanta makers and creatives. Kimberly works with the individual artist to craft the perfect narrative for their artwork and business. Watch Kim’s film of Cord Shoes and Boots artist Sarah Green. Above all, Kimberly stressed beginning with what you have and working up to larger resources as you have access to them. You can begin with your cell phone camera or rent nicer equipment from a film rental company to stay economical. Some editing software is free but is limited in its usage. Some more expensive industry standard products like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro have free trials and online tutorials to help users learn to use software.
You can download a PDF copy of the slide decks presented below:
Adobe Creative Cloud Editing Software (Modules available include Premiere Pro for Film and Lightroom, Illustrator, and Photoshop for image editing. Free 30 day trials available.)
Final Cut Pro (Software for Mac for editing film. Also has free trial versions available)
One last announcement: C4 Atlanta is launching a TechsmARTs podcast! Look for our launch this Summer 2017. Upcoming topics include net neutrality, working in virtual reality, submissions for film and TV and much more. Have a topic you’d like to see us explore in a future TechsmARTs? Submit it here.
Sign this letter asking to Mayor Reed to adopt an equitable funding distribution model for his fractional tax for the arts!
On Monday, C4 Atlanta, along with several other Atlanta arts organizations and artists, sent a letter to Mayor Kasim Reed to ask him to support our model for distribution of funds under his proposed sales tax for the arts initiative. Other supporters of this initiative include: Flux Projects, Hammonds House Museum, glo, Living Walls, MODA, Poem 88, Art Papers, Dashboard US, Moving in the Spirit, Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Soul Food Cypher, and others.This initiative would provide a dedicated stream of funding for arts and culture organizations in the city through a .1% sales tax. The full version of our proposed funding distribution model is available in PDF format here:
The model proposed by this group includes funding for individual artists and is meant to incentivize growth of small and mid-sized arts and cultural organizations, while also providing financial assistance to larger institutions, too. Funding for individual artists would also be available in this model, as well as for non-arts organizations who would like to create cross-sector arts collaborations that would benefit the community. By nature of their mission, smaller organizations are often those providing the largest share of resources to underserved communities and communities of color. We also understand and appreciate the place of large institutions in our arts ecosystem as well. It is important for a robust arts community to have thriving organizations at all levels in order to support the career growth of arts workers and to provide the greatest array of services to the most people, regardless of race, location, gender identity or socio-economic status. Because of this, we believe this model will continue to cultivate Atlanta’s rich cultural capital and promote even more diversity within our community.
— Help us spread through social media. See the C4 Atlanta Facebook Page for posts you can share.
— Reach out to non-arts community organizations to sign as well. This model supports cross-sector collaborations.
Below is a copy of our letter to Mayor Reed introducing our proposed model and the reasons for asking him to adopt it in the pending legislation to introduce this tax initiative. Names of supporters are added automatically as they sign. If you would like to sign on to this letter encouraging the Mayor to adopt our funding model click here:
education in the arts. Data collected by the Georgia Council for the Arts (2015) show that nearly 40% of Georgia’s youth do not have access to high quality visual arts education, this means that students are being taught by a person who is not certified to teach visual arts, and 19% of those students do not have access to visual arts education at all. Arts disciplines such as theater arts have an even lower amount of high quality teachers in the field with 76% of Georgia’s youth going without any access to theater programs in their school (Bell, 2015, p. 17). One may ask, why don’t schools hire more arts educators? Historically, arts have been undervalued in public schools with little to no investment in growing arts programs, however, a more pressing problem is having access to high quality arts educators to fill those vacancies in the event that a school or district decides to invest in the arts. Keeping high quality educators in the field is problematic due to ever increasing teacher turnover.
