Last week, ATL Taco opened at Lenox Square. The Mexican eatery (the only Mexican concept at the mall) from Shaun Doty and Lance Grummere replaced Bantam+Biddy, their casual, chicken eatery.
Read more: Bantam + Biddy Lenox location to become a Mexican restaurant
The new restaurant is designed to better serve the crowd at Lenox. "The audience that goes to Lenox is a younger audience looking for entertainment experience. I look at it as a missing part of the pie at Lenox," Doty said in an interview with the AJC.
But what didn’t fit the crowd at Lenox was a mural that Doty had commissioned from Atlanta artist Chris Veal.
According to his post on social media (@caveal on IG), Veal, who is known for his memorable artwork around the ity including the "Rush Hour" mural at Edgewood and Boulevard and the former "I Miss Buckhead" mural near Ponce City Market, sketched the mural on a Friday, painted it on Saturday and Sunday, and finished it up on Monday.
Last Wednesday, a few days before the restaurant was set to open, Veal learned that mall reps weren’t happy with the mural and that it would have to be painted over.
Veal took it all in stride, saying that is just how it goes sometimes, but he shared an image of the mural on social media so others could see and share it.
The mural featured notable Atlantans including Julia Roberts, Outkast, Chipper Jones and a MARTA train running across the city skyline .
While some comments on social media blasted mall officials for having the artwork removed, other locals said they agree the mural seemed out of place at Lenox Square.
Doty took the blame for not getting the proper approvals for the mural. His goal, he said, had been to bring a public art type of project to the space.
“When you have space in any kind of a development you have to show your design to the landlord. I have a little bit of a wild streak. I neglected to do this,” said Doty by phone Wednesday while driving around the city in his Jeep to help employees that were having trouble in the snow and ice.
“I did it in the spirit of the Living Walls project. I wanted to try bring it to Buckhead, but I knew I was pushing it design-wise,” he said.
Doty considers himself part of the local arts community. His significant art collection includes the work of Cedric Smith, Todd Murphy and Tony Hernandez. Many of his acquisitions have come through bartering food for art, he said.
He used all of his powers of persuasion to change the minds of mall authorities about the Veal mural, but to no avail. Though the exchange got a bit cantankerous, Doty said they are all planning to work together on an art installation that will make everyone happy.
“I promise we will have an art installation that will be a tribute to our urban culture in Atlanta...because that is my passion,” Doty said.
