Q: A mural appeared about a month ago, about a mile from my office building. At first, everyone thought it was unfinished, but nothing else has been done to it. All day long, office workers gravitate toward the window to look, wonder and discuss what the artist meant. What is this mural and what does it mean?
A: You can't miss the giant mural of a person kneeling in a prayerful position, with its head tilted back and hands pressed together as if pleading with God. It takes up most of the side of the Comfort Suites Atlanta Downtown at Peachtree Street and Alabama Street and is part of the Elevate/Art Above Underground program, which began Aug. 26 and will continue until Oct. 30. An artist who goes by Sam3 created the mural for the exhibition, which will "stimulate an emerging interest in public art and Downtown Atlanta," according to the Office of Cultural Affairs' Public Art Program. Sam3 responded to my e-mail when I asked him the meaning behind his mural, saying, "I didn't paint a 15-story wall to (explain it) in a few words. Sorry, it has no title. If it can help, I can remember an old Chinese proverb: 'We do not see things as they are, but as we are.' " Drive or walk by the mural and see what you think.
Q: On “How States Got Their Shapes” on the History Channel, someone said the traditional Southern accent started after the Civil War. Is that true?
--Bruce Bowen, Atlanta
A: Y'all, there are so many versions and dialects of the Southern accent, it's nearly impossible to pinpoint all of their origins. I mean, not all of us sound like Paula Deen or Foghorn Leghorn. Experts say there's Virginia piedmont, coastal southern, south midland or highland southern, Appalachian, Gullah, Florida cracker, Ozark, gulf southern, Mississippi delta, Cajun, yat and various Texas twangs, to name a few. I could go on, but I'm beginning to sound like Bubba Blue from "Forrest Gump." The variations have different characteristics and developed at different times from different sources and even languages. There are "varieties of Southern speech which originated from the British Isles. Some varieties, mostly along the coasts, come from Southwest Britain, and others, mostly in the Appalachians, come from Scotch Irish settlers," linguist Elizabeth J. Pyatt wrote on linguistlist.org. Thank goodness none of us speak with whatever accent Clark Gable tried to pass off as Southern in "Gone With the Wind."
What do you want to know about Georgia?
If you’re new in town or have questions about this special place we call home, ask us! E-mail Andy Johnston at q&a@ajc.com.
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