The morning of our final full day in the beautiful state of peaches was spent in Decatur, GA, a city on the northeast side of Atlanta. While in Decatur we had the opportunity to meet with the city mayor, Patti Garrett, as well as several other city and non-profit leaders in the community.
One of Garrett’s main goals going into the position of mayor was to increase the arts and appreciation of arts in the city. In order to achieve this, they started a budget that allowed them to purchase art and place them in community buildings across the city.
Another major part of bringing the arts to Decatur was incorporating art in usually bland places. Soon following the shift of the arts, murals were painted on building walls, parking ramps, and electrical boxes scattered around the city (see photo to the left). The goal was to have the arts encourage people to get out into their community and be healthy. Garrett stated, that they wanted to create a “walkable. bikeable, and inviting” city. They achieved this by making events that appreciated the arts free and for all age groups.
The murals that can be found across the entire city are more than just a piece of art. They use them to tell a story of where the city has come from.
One major issue that they have historically faced was the lack of racial diversity. This was due to the building of the MARTA train right into the center of their city. While this helps increase the traffic and people in the direct downtown square it displaced numerous amounts of people. Of those affected by the building of the train included a large African American population. It split the African Americans to the south side of the city and the whites to the north. African Americans were further affected with the growth of roads that cut through their neighborhood as well. In order to honor those who lived in the area, Decatur Days was started by members of families who lost their neighborhoods. In recent years they were able to put a mural up on the side of the MARTA train. This allows the train to bring some light and art to the city.
As the city continued to grow, more and more buildings started to get abandoned and the city started lacking a place of home and community. Decatur turned into a city of commuters. Over the last 31 years, they’ve worked to create a community and a downtown square where residents can go at nights with family and friends. This was done by reconfiguring buildings and creating the town square where live music and other community events can be held. One large event that is held every year is the Decatur Book Festival. The Book Festival occurs every Labor Day weekend and attracts 60,000-80,000 people per year. The city of Decatur became a perfect place for this festival to happen because it brings the love of creativity and passion for literature and the arts. On top of the passion for literature they make it a large community gathering by offering fun games for kids and funnel cakes for all.
Still to this day despite the efforts that have been made to increase arts and the community, Decatur struggles with diversity. Though this struggle is now defined more by the lack of economic diversity and shifting racial demographics. Garrett and others hope to continue the growth of arts as well as the economic diversity in Decatur.
Blogger: Sabine Westermeyer
Viterbo University - Atlanta 2019 