“Art on the Atlanta BeltLine” often a catchall

For four years now, the “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine” exhibition has offered Atlantans a walk with a view.

Sponsored by Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the temporary public art project—the largest in the city—encourages engagement with the vast public park and former railway line. The 65 artworks featured from September 7- November 11 stretch from Piedmont Park down to Adair Park in Atlanta’s West End. This year’s exhibition unfolds along eight miles of sometimes remote, desolate dirt trails and on paved, well-traveled locations busy with bikers, runners and pedestrian traffic. “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine,” in many ways, illustrates the dramatic divide of the city, between prosperous and poor, gentrified and neglected. And the project holds out the promise that the pedestrian thoroughfare, whose 22 miles will someday encircle the city’s core, will unify this sprawling city.

Featuring an array of emerging and established artists working in often very different media, “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine” is often a catchall, combining great, memorable work, but also more ad hoc, amateurish offerings. But as a whole, the exhibition offers a wonderful way of connecting the city’s creative scene with daily life and offers the chance to engage with art in an immediate way.

With so much work to choose from, it makes sense to highlight some of the most memorable pieces this year. Below, are some favorites among the 65 artworks on view.

The Knitterati

“Close Knit”

The Knitterati group is part of a larger national movement of artists bringing the humble, homey craft of knitting out into the world. For this year’s BeltLine exhibit, Knitterati has essentially covered 22 wheeled objects in cozy knit “sweaters.” In “Close Knit,” yarn-encased bicycles, shopping carts, lawn mowers and baby strollers are placed at intervals on the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail, bringing a dose of humor to the quickly-rolling-by pace of urban life.

Kenneth Lock Bridger

“SkyFish”

Kenneth Lock Bridger’s “SkyFish” features a group of plump metal fish perched on the end of white poles like flags, adding a whimsical touch to the city skyline seen in the distance.

Brandon Sadler

“Henkaku”

Brandon Sadler’s explosive, colorful mural of a goldfish in shades of gold and yellow spewing an array of even tinier goldfish is executed in the artist’s characteristic Asian, anime style and adds a bright dose of color and form to a nondescript concrete underpass.

Kyle Brooks and Molly Rose Freeman

“A Resting Place”

An example of one of the low-tech, but distinctly charming works in this exhibition, this wooden structure essentially creates a room made from plywood with small stools inside where walkers can take a respite from their journey. Painted in bright, perky colors and embellished with cheerful animated figures, the piece exemplifies the welcoming, communal spirit of the BeltLine.

Mike Wsol

“Lost Horizon”

The worn metal exterior of this funnel-shaped sculpture offers little indication of the visual delight inside. Like stepping into the “I Dream of Jeannie” bottle, visitors can climb through a small opening in the space shuttle-reminiscent structure to find a room whose wide top portion has been lined with Astroturf, offering an artificial horizon and a startlingly intense view of the vast blue sky.

David Lewis Bean

“If You Build It, They Will Come”

A clever interactive, musical piece, David Lewis Bean’s steel structure combines a functional bike rack and a serendipitous musical sculpture. The curved top of the sculpture supports a hanging column of chimes, which produce sound when rung.

Allen Peterson

“Phoenix: Atlanta’s Railroad Rebirth”

Referencing the phoenix as emblem of Atlanta’s post-Civil War transformation, this rust-coated steel bird suggests both a rictus of pain and triumph as it reaches toward the sky from its granite foundation. Peterson’s work is also notable for its commentary on Atlanta’s ongoing spirit of transformation in the ambitious BeltLine project, which transforms a neglected railway line ringing the city into a viable network connecting diverse communities.

Nick Kahler

“Ludic Jungle”

Weathered wooden railway ties are the foundation of Nick Kahler’s moody, minimalist piece, which creates a forest out of these antique spires. The ties are hammered into the ground to form a sort of gateway to the BeltLine, while referencing its origins as a onetime railway line.

Juliann Tompkins

“Tangranimals Giraffe”

Like the monolith rising out of the earth in Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” this abstracted giraffe offers a blast of color on a weed-choked stretch of the BeltLine. Like many of the works in “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine,” Tompkins’ pixelated animal offers a dose of art in the most unexpected place, one of the enduring pleasures of this annual public art event.

Art Review