Art briefs: 2023 Atlanta Art Week, artists move into Midtown, new director at Spruill

The second annual Atlanta Art Week will take place October 2 through October 8, offering three more days of exhibits, lectures, panels and openings than the 2022 inaugural event. Founder-director Kendra Walker tells ArtsATL we can expect increased involvement from Georgia institutions, as well as brand collaborations and educational panel discussions. Walker describes the event as “an initiative designed to promote cultural exchange, education, and appreciation of the arts. Atlanta is a diverse and beautiful city, and we hope that all aspects of AAW [Atlanta Art Week] reflect that.” Stay tuned for more details.

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Midtown Alliance is providing 18 months of studio space in Midtown for seven Atlanta artists as part of the Midtown Heart of the Arts Residency Program.

Demetri Burke, Darya Fard, Sayma Hossain, Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Masud Olufani, Deanna Sirlin and Kristan Woolford moved into their Midtown studio spaces in January 2023. Their residencies continue through June 2024. Each artist will also receive a stipend. (Sirlin is an ArtsATL contributor.)

Midtown Alliance held an open call for artist applications in summer 2022 and received nearly 50 submissions. Four of the seven residencies this year were made possible through a new partnership with Emory University, which has created three studio spaces in buildings across from Emory University Midtown Hospital. Other property partners involved in the program are Databank, Dewberry Foundation and Perkins&Will/MODA.

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The Spruill Gallery has named Shannon Morris as its new director. She will begin her new role in May. Morris was most recently director of the Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art at Augusta University. She also owns an independent art consulting business through which she traveled to Venice with artist Shanequa Gay in 2022 for her exhibit at the European Culture Center, held during the 59th Venice Biennale.

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