March 1, 2025 - March 2, 2025 / 11:00am - 4:00pm

ART PAPERS | Atlanta Art Ecosystems

A Public Talks Series

Special Event
Workshop

A two-day series of public programs focused on the Atlanta visual art community’s resilience, adaptability, and sustainability

Saturday, March 1 & Sunday, March 2

Hosted by Atlanta Contemporary
535 Means St NW, Atlanta, GA 30318

Art Papers presents a series of public conversations that bring together members of the visual art community who are invested in addressing challenges faced by the nonprofit visual arts sector in Atlanta.

In 2024, Art Papers convened a steering committee of thought leaders in the Atlanta visual art community to design a series of public programs that would address the challenges facing our nonprofit art ecosystem while celebrating the abundance of innovative practices and adaptive strategies that offer exciting paths forward. This two-day program is the outcome of that steering committee’s shared urgencies and spaces of inspiration.

The series will be accompanied by a limited edition booklet that—in addition to introducing each conversation and its speakers—will include an annotated “yellow pages” style collection of Atlanta visual art resources such as listings for exhibition-presenting spaces, awards and fellowships, studio space providers, art handlers/installers/shippers, residencies, fiscal sponsors, and more. The booklet will be available on-site for program attendees.

We invite artists, arts administrators, institutional experimenters, collectors, funders, and anyone who is invested in the future of Atlanta’s Art Ecosystems to join us.

Attendees are invited to choose individual program elements, or attend the full series – we just ask that you REGISTER for each element that you will attend.


DAY 1: Saturday, March 1

10:30 am Atlanta Contemporary—Doors Open

10:50 am Welcome remarks from Sarah Higgins (Art Papers) and Floyd Hall (Atlanta Contemporary)

11 am Crash Course—Models, Forms, Audiences 101
Led by Art Papers staff, this seminar-style program will define relevant terms and lay a foundation of knowledge for the conversations to come.

1 pm Adaptive Forms Panel – moderated by Sarah Higgins, Executive + Artistic Director of Art Papers
This panel spotlights adaptive, nomadic, temporary, and experimental projects that expand the boundaries of our notions of what an “art institution” can be.

  • Panelists: Scott Ingram (Temporary Art Center), Jasmine Hentschel (Art Calendar Atlanta + Gulch Magazine), Amanda P. Norris (The Bakery / The Supermarket), Anna Akpele (else.where__ and Dashboard), and Lauren Jackson Harris (Black Women in Visual Art)

3 pm Support Models Panel – moderated by Laura Hennighausen, Director of Strategic Philanthropy, Purpose Possible + Metro Atlanta Arts Collaborative
This panel presents various forms of support for artists and institutional projects including funding, residencies, studio and space resources, and more.

  • Panelists: Jessica Helfrecht (Echo Contemporary / Guardian Studios), Ife Williams (The Hambidge Center), Cinqué Hicks (Idea Capital), Allie Bashuk (The Goat Farm), Ayana Gabriel (Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta)

DAY 2: Sunday, March 2

11 am Thinking Publicness Panel – moderated by Miranda Kyle, Curator of Indigenous Arts of the Americas, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
This panel looks beyond notions of “public art” to consider how visual art engages with publicness—with particular emphasis on projects and institutions that push beyond mere beautification to engage deeply with a broad audience.

  • Panelists: Anna Akpele (Dashboard), Anne Dennington (Flux Projects), Alex Frankcombe (Art + Activation, ATL DTN), Chantelle Rytter (Art on the Atlanta Beltline)

1:30 pm Cross-Sector Collaboration Panel – moderated by Roshani Thakore, Artist, Director, Community Engagement & Culture Program, Atlanta Regional Commission
This panel focuses on finding sustainability and new audiences for the arts through working across, and beyond, multiple sectors—whether they are conceptual, such as with technology and medicine, or structural, such as with city and industry partners.

  • Panelists: Nikki Estes (South Arts Cross-sector Impact Grant), Birney Robert (GA Tech Arts), Clint Fluker (Culture, Community, and Partner Engagement, Michael C. Carlos Museum and Emory Libraries).

3:30 pm Houseguest Talk
This lecture style presentation will feature an invited guest speaker to talk about a large scale project they’ve realized. Special guest speaker Fawz Kabra will discuss co-founding and running a New York-based kunsthalle style exhibition space and small artist-project press, Brief Histories. Her talk will offer valuable insights into the process of conceptualizing and executing significant artistic and curatorial endeavors.

Each program will include time for audience Q&A.




Upcoming Program Events

View All Programs
September 27 / 10:00am Special Event

Somatic Sound: Contemporary Yoga

Lead by Sydney McCall

Register

This is more than just a yoga class—it's an exploration of rhythm, breath, and energy. As Sydney guides you through a mindful flow, while DJs shape the soundscape in real-time, creating a fully sensory, meditative environment designed to ground the body and expand the mind. Whether you're a seasoned yogi or just beginning your practice, Flow State invites you to embrace the process—investigate, explore, and move with intention. Bring your mat, an open mind, and get ready to vibe.

September 27 / 12:00pm Contemporary Talks

Artist Talk with Jiha Moon

Free

Join us for a conversation with Jiha Moon, acclaimed artist and 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, as she reflects on her exhibition Ten Moon and her evolving practice. After relocating from Atlanta to Tallahassee, Moon’s work has shifted to embrace new environments and influences. Ten Moon features her signature blend of paintings, ceramics, and mixed-media works that draw from Korean folk traditions, American pop culture, and digital iconography. At its center is the Shrine series, where paintings and ceramic objects merge into intimate, dreamlike spaces exploring memory, identity, and transformation. Moon will share insights into her practice, the symbolism of the moon as a marker of resilience and change, and her exploration of in-betweenness—where the familiar meets the surreal. Her work is held in major collections including the Hirshhorn, the High Museum of Art, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. This event is free and open to the public.

September 27 / 2:00pm Contemporary Talks

Curator Talk with Youmi Efurd

with a Special Performance by Atlanta Korean Cultural Center (AKCC)

Free

Join us for a special curator talk with Youmi Efurd, curator of the Richardson Family Art Museum at Wofford College, as she discusses two exhibitions currently on view: Shaping Identity: Korean Print in Diaspora and Ten Moon by Jiha Moon. Shaping Identity explores the relationship between cultural heritage, migration, and identity through the lens of printmaking. Featuring works by Tschang Yeul Kim, Kakyoung Lee, U-fan Lee, Jiha Moon, Yoonmi Nam, Nam June Paik, Jean Shin, Joo Yeon Woo, and Jayoung Yoon, the exhibition highlights how Korean and diasporic artists have used printmaking to navigate traditions, hybridity, and belonging across generations. Ten Moon presents a new body of work by Jiha Moon that reflects her transition from Atlanta to Tallahassee and her ongoing exploration of identity, memory, and transformation. Incorporating paintings, ceramics, and mixed media, Moon blends Korean folk traditions, American pop culture, and digital imagery into a vibrant, dreamlike language of resilience and renewal. Efurd will share insights into the curatorial vision behind these exhibitions and discuss how they together reflect themes of cultural continuity, migration, and the evolution of identity. To close the event, the Atlanta Korean Cultural Center (AKCC) will present a Nanta performance, a high-energy percussion show that celebrates Korean culture and traditions through rhythm and movement. Founded in 2008 by HyunSuk Yang, AKCC has performed at national, state, and local festivals with a mission to build community connections through performing arts and education. This event is free and open to the public.

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