City of Atlanta reimagines Elevate art fest
Adriane V. Jefferson, the new executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, has big plans for one of the department’s signature events — this year’s public art festival Elevate 2025.
Formerly the cultural affairs director for the city of New Haven, Connecticut, Jefferson now lives in Grant Park, and her mission for the 14-year-old free event is to attract Gen Z and millennials. To generate momentum, she has compressed Elevate into a single weekend — Oct. 10-12 — instead of the monthslong event it was under Camille Love, the department’s previous director for 26 years.
“I think one of the things we wanted to do is tighten up the brand identity,” said Jefferson. “So, the way that we’re doing that is actually by shortening it to a really strong three days of clarity and community, so that people can start to get familiar with what it is. And also, as we start to reinvent the brand, we’re gradually introducing it to new audiences.”
Jefferson’s vision for Elevate 2025 is to root it in what she describes as the predominately Black neighborhoods of the West End, Westview, Castleberry Hill and downtown Atlanta. Under the thematic umbrella of “Rooted & Rising,” Elevate 2025 pays homage to Atlanta’s long and deep cultural legacy.
“By honoring the artists, neighborhoods and institutions that gave Atlanta its voice, we create space for healing, recognition and joy — across generations,” the organizers stated in a press release. “From the Southern hip-hop explosion and streetwear to skate culture, hair salons, corner stores and neighborhood gatherings, we celebrate the everyday artistry and community care that defines us.”
The festival will blend elements of music, visual arts, storytelling, fashion, food and wellness curated by Jordan Neal and Stephen Wilkins of SLW & Steady Productions; artist and gallerist Courtney Brooks; and photographer Melissa Alexander.
Festivities begin 5 p.m. Friday at Centennial Yard’s Steele Bridge downtown with the Soul Fresh Sound Bowl session and Wellness activation — an immersive experience focused on breathwork, stretching and recharging guided by mental health therapist and artist Ebony Black. The day will also include live painting from Petie Parker and Quake Solo, and a vendors’ market featuring local brands, apparel, handmade home decor and one-of-a-kind artworks. The also day includes music from DJ Rasyrious, a spoken word performance and live music with Tiffany Goode and the Goode Stuff Experience.
Also on tap is a runway fashion show featuring local designers Abeille Creations, Kieta Rose and Wild Seed Butik.
“Atlanta is filled with fly, fresh and unique fashions, stylists and designers, reminding us that self-expression and styling ourselves every day, whether we are aware of it or not, is an art,” said Brooks.
An after-party follows at Smokey Stallone Bistro from 10 p.m.-midnight.
Saturday festivities start at 9:30 a.m. with a Soundscape Activation + Wellness event, which will transform Woodruff Park into an immersive auditory and visual experience including a sound bath, a free yoga class, a high energy HIIT fitness class, live music and healthy treats from Smooth N Groove.
The morning will also include an unveiling of public art installations by artists Lisa Li, Dana Haugaard and Ellex Swavoni titled “The Space Within.” Presented in partnership with Atlanta Downtown and the arts nonprofit Dashboard, it will be on view through Dec. 30.
Then festivities move to Underground Atlanta for “The Culture Comb Out” starting at noon.
The event will feature wellness vendors, vinyl records for sale and streetwear shopping and what Alexander described as “a celebration of Atlanta’s style, creativity and community care. Just as the act of combing out hair brings both peace and preparation for the next style, this day is about grounding ourselves in the rituals that shape us.”
A highlight of the day will be the Crown Classic Hair Showdown hair competition.
Alexander’s curatorial approach for the event pulls from her personal experience after moving to the city in 1996 at age 10 with a recently divorced father who, in Alexander’s words, “was ill-equipped to handle my hair needs.”
She found sanctuary and community in a Riverdale hair salon.
“I was taught that children are meant to be seen and not heard. My parents mentioned nothing about listening. So, I listened while sitting for hours in Ms. Tammy’s,” said Alexander.
“It seemed all of the joys, worries and accomplishments of Black women floated around the beauty salon,” she said. “I recognize the beauty salon as a form of church, a place to let your hair down, literally and figuratively. A place where you don’t have to perform. The intimacy of having another woman comb your worries from the top of your head, your crown. The sisterhood that’s created in the hand slaps, the laughter, the jokes. Where else can we, as Black women, feel that so freely?”
Sunday events take place at various locations in the southwest Westview neighborhood beginning at noon. Activities include a vintage clothes market, live music, a DJ spinning Atlanta classics from the ’80s to the 2000s, Auxigen’s Beatmaker open mic for beatmakers and electronic musicians, a pop-up art show and classes on pottery, cobbling, drumming and the Afro-Brazilian-based dance form capoeira.
In the evening, Atlanta-based filmmakers David and Matthew Adeboyé will screen their documentary “Live at Club Zebra.” It tells the story of the Atlanta speakeasy and cabaret founded by writers Zaron Burnett and Pearl Cleage that showcased local artists and performers across multiple disciplines from the mid-1980s until the 1990s.
“Live at Club Zebra,” said Jefferson, is the perfect example of her concept of “Rooted & Rising,” which pays homage to Atlanta’s cultural past along with its promising creative future.
When Jefferson moved to Atlanta eight months ago, she noticed a division between creative communities in the city. Her goal for Elevate is to help integrate different creative disciplines and to generate more support for artists, particularly in the areas of studio space and health care.
She envisions Elevate as “something that can be a unifier, something that can be a place for conversations to be cultivated and then action to be taken.”
EVENT PREVIEW
Elevate. Oct. 10-12. Free. The Carrie Steele Bridge, 125 Ted Turner Drive; Smokey Stallion Bistro, 309 Nelson St.; Woodruff Park, 91 Peachtree St.; Underground Atlanta, 50 Upper Alabama St.; Westview Corner Grocery, 1562 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd.; Atlanta Gallery Pop-up, 1521 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd.; The Pearl Cleage & Zaron Burnett Center for Culture and Creativity, 945 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. elevateatlart.com.
