The Creatives Project’s 11th Annual “#ARTOFCOMMUNITY” Exhibition “Ascension” opens Feb. 12 in the Academy Lofts at Adair Park and will feature the work of nine local artists. But it’s more than an exhibit. It will celebrate the Project’s ARTFORCE residency program and mark the grand opening of a new event and exhibition space.
It is also an opportunity for Atlantans to see what’s possible as the city catches up with the type of arts-oriented housing found in cities like Chicago, Minneapolis and New Orleans.
The Creatives Project (TCP) brands itself as Atlanta’s only affordable housing program dedicated to the city’s creative community. Its signature residency program, Artist-in-Studio, has been operating since 2011. Now it has a new home and a new executive director, Jennifer Long, whose hiring was announced on Feb. 7.
Academy Lofts is in the historic, Gothic Revival brick building that from 1912 to 1973 housed the George W. Adair Elementary School. After the school closed, the building stood vacant until TCP announced plans in 2017 for its preservation and adaptive reuse. The plan comprised affordable micro-units for artists, office space, event space and commercial space, including a highly anticipated communal café called Darling Josephine.
Credit: Courtesy of The Creatives Project
Credit: Courtesy of The Creatives Project
The brain trust behind the Academy Lofts dream knew enough to expect the unexpected. Four years and one pandemic later, Neda Abghari, the Atlanta-based curator, consultant and founder of TCP, says all credit goes to her partners Stan Sugarman of Stryant Construction, and Atticus LeBlanc and John Crane of Building Insights for making The Academy Lofts a reality.
“Bureaucracy doesn’t work well in the best of times,” says Sugarman. “But late nights and a lot of coffee made it happen. Our inexperience probably helped get the project done as well because if we were familiar with what would be required, we might not have been so ambitious!”
Angels like then-councilman Andre Dickens (now Mayor Dickens) helped secure internet connections, natural gas meters and permits as the city transitioned to virtual permitting during the pandemic. The National Park Service, Department of Community Affairs in Georgia and Invest Atlanta Housing Bond offered guidance to maximize historical tax credits.
Credit: Courtesy of The Creatives Project
Credit: Courtesy of The Creatives Project
And the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, an affiliate of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, served as a North Star for keeping the restoration concept intact. The result? The ambitious adaptive-reuse venture was one of five finalists for the Urbanize Atlanta Best of 2021 Prize.
Today, the Academy Lofts features 35 residential units, five of which are market rate with 30 reserved for residents with income at 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). For artists, The Creatives Project accepts applications on a rolling basis for current and future vacancies in the 10 units earmarked for the artist-in-residency program.
In exchange for access to the Project’s amenities — including on- and off-site studios, classrooms, gallery space, the auditorium, promotional support, exhibition opportunities and professional development — each artist resident will serve the wider community through educational programs via TCP’s Community Arts Program.
Credit: Courtesy of the Creatives Project
Credit: Courtesy of the Creatives Project
One of the lucky artists is Petie Parker, a web designer, content creator and artist advocate who started his own practice as a painter two years ago. He scored a studio apartment in the building in spring 2021.
He had been living with his dad in Duluth but the daily commute to his job as general manager at the Peters Street Station Art & Design Community Center was a time-killer and soul-crusher. He often spent the night on his office couch to avoid rush hour traffic.
Before moving into the Academy Lofts, he was renting a house in town, which increased his overhead and reduced his output as an artist. The relief of finding affordable housing in Atlanta, and claiming his space within a residential community whose cultural aspirations align with his own, has been transformational.
“Being able to live the life of an artist starts with opportunities like this,” says Parker. “I’m surrounded by my art so I can wake up and paint. Having access to affordable housing eliminates the pressure to hustle and bustle. My focus is less on survival and more on artistry. I feel freer and am so grateful for a space where I can create my work, exhibit it and also lay my head.”
Parker laughs when he admits to submitting his application for what he considered a too-good-to-be-true opportunity at 11:58 p.m. one night, just two minutes before the midnight deadline in the last round of submissions.
Now that he’s living the dream, he says it’s “surreal” to consider the generations of children who once occupied the school. “The positive aura makes me wake up ready to create,” he says. The high ceilings, oversize windows and chalkboard sills — where Parker now stores his paintbrushes and pencils — were left intact by the developers and have become sources of motivation, inspiration and validation for the emerging artist.
Looking back, Sugarman wouldn’t change a thing about the five-year journey and steep learning curve that it took to create The Academy Lofts, a place where artists like Parker can thrive. He says it has broadened his perspective of what’s possible when developers consider how bottom-line thinking and public service needn’t be mutually exclusive propositions. Moreover, he believes developers and city planners who overlook the potential of innovative housing models designed to preserve and support cultural connections do so at the city’s peril.
“Atlanta doesn’t have ski slopes or beaches,” says Sugarman. “Tourists visit because of our artists, the trap music culture, the muralists and the intangibles of [our status as] a cultural mecca of the South. Cities are a poorer place, long term, when artists are priced out of affordable housing. We need to value the arts more, cherish them and develop them as entrepreneurs.”
IF YOU GO
“Ascension”
Through March 13. Noon-5 p.m. Fridays-Sundays; by appointment Mondays and Wednesdays. Free; RSVP required. Academy Lofts, 711 Catherine St. SW, Atlanta. thecreativesproject.org.
Gail O’Neill is an ArtsATL editor-at-large. She hosts and coproduces Collective Knowledge, a conversational series that’s broadcast on THEA Network, and frequently moderates author talks for the Atlanta History Center.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
MEET OUR PARTNER
ArtsATL (www.artsatl.org), is a nonprofit organization that plays a critical role in educating and informing audiences about metro Atlanta’s arts and culture. Founded in 2009, ArtsATL’s goal is to help build a sustainable arts community contributing to the economic and cultural health of the city.
If you have any questions about this partnership or others, please contact Senior Manager of Partnerships Nicole Williams at nicole.williams@ajc.com.
