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# Waking Up a City with Public Art
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/waking-up-a-city-with-public-art/
- Published: 2014-08-25T17:50:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:44:05.000Z
- Description: ATLANTA — This summer marks the fifth anniversary of Living Walls, The City Speaks, conference, an event and organization dedicated to bringing public art and conversation to downtown Atlanta.
- Author: Hyperallergic
- Tags: Art, Photo Essays, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:03 (2014, 2015, part 1)

![Moneyless, Side of Soundtable, Edgewood (all photos by Alix Taylor/Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0196.jpg)

Moneyless, Side of Soundtable, Edgewood (all photos by Alix Taylor/Hyperallergic)

ATLANTA — This summer marks the fifth anniversary of [Living Walls, The City Speaks](http://livingwallsatl.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), conference, an event and organization dedicated to bringing public art and conversation to downtown Atlanta. Each year Living Walls, which has [grown significantly](http://clatl.com/atlanta/2014-living-walls-conference-celebrates-five-years-of-dialogue/Content?oid=11935762&ref=hyperallergic.com) since its start in 2010, commissions new murals for the city; this edition brought 18 more artworks to Atlanta, by international artists like [Ernest Zacharevic](http://www.zachas.com/index.php/murals/?ref=hyperallergic.com) as well as local painters such as [HENSE](http://hensethename.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com). The mid-August companion conference featured, among other events, a conversation with *Juxtapoz* magazine and Vandalog, a lecture by Meres One on curating the n[ow-defunct](http://queens.brownstoner.com/2014/08/this-just-in-5pointz-is-getting-demolished-now/?ref=hyperallergic.com) 5Pointz, and a blowout event at The Goat Farm.

After the weekend of festivities, I hopped in my car to visit each of the 2014 walls in the middle of a Georgia summer storm. As I struggled to unglue my sweaty legs from the sticky car seat at each stop, I realized how palpable the impact of Living Walls has been on Atlanta’s landscape. On my way to new walls I passed pieces from years past, murals by artists I’d interviewed, and bikers admirably ditching fossil fuels for the [Living Walls bike route](http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5619774?ref=hyperallergic.com).

In a city known for its sprawl, rush, and abandonment of the interpersonal interactions that seem to characterize other southern cities, Living Walls offers invaluable moments to stop and appreciate public art in some of Atlanta’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

![Troy Lovegates, Humphries Street](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0170.jpg)

Troy Lovegates, Humphries Street

![Troy Lovegates, Humphries Street (detail)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0173.jpg)

Troy Lovegates, Humphries Street (detail)

![SAN, Whitehall and McDaniels Street](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0175.jpg)

SAN, Whitehall and McDaniels Street

![Caroline Caldwell, Edgewood Ave and Hillard Street](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0191.jpg)

Caroline Caldwell, Edgewood Ave and Hillard Street

![Caroline Caldwell, Edgewood Ave and Hillard Street (detail)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0189.jpg)

Caroline Caldwell, Edgewood Ave and Hillard Street (detail)

![Borondo, Atlanta Daily World Building](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0184.jpg)

Borondo, Atlanta Daily World Building

![Borondo, Atlanta Daily World Building (detail) ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0180.jpg)

Borondo, Atlanta Daily World Building (detail)

![Fintan Magee, Ralph McGill Boulevard](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/08/dsc_0198.jpg)

Fintan Magee, Ralph McGill Boulevard

*The* [*Living Walls 2014 conference*](https://www.facebook.com/events/661230780628094/) *took place August 13–17\. This year’s murals remain on view indefinitely. Their locations can be found* [*here*](http://livingwallsatl.com/walls/?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*