Beyond the fair: 6 alternative art events surrounding Atlanta Art Fair

During Art Fair weekend, Atlanta’s art scene extends well beyond the exhibition floor. Across Midtown, West Midtown, Grant Park and the Atlanta University Center, museums, independent spaces and creative organizations are staging exhibitions, site-specific installations, performances, parties and open-studio events.

Whether you’re looking to start a collection, explore decades of art history or wander through a transformed industrial landscape, here are six ways to experience the city’s art scene beyond the fair.

The Other Art Fair

October 1 through October 4 | Enspire Mercantile, Grant Park

The first Atlanta edition of The Other Art Fair brings more than 100 independent artists to Enspire Mercantile in Grant Park next to the Atlanta Beltline. Designed around direct interaction between artists and buyers, the fair offers a more informal counterpoint to the traditional gallery-fair model.

More than 500 artists applied for the debut fair in Atlanta; roughly 60% of those selected are based in the Southeast, and about 70% are exhibiting with The Other Art Fair for the first time. Georgia artists include makers from Atlanta, Athens, Mableton, Savannah, Roswell, Suwanee, Lilburn and Stone Mountain.

The fair also offers plenty to do beyond shopping, including an interactive bulletin board by The Karmacy, the Blind Date with an Artwork mystery purchase, live poetry, DJs and an immersive Womb Pod. Curated groupings of works priced under $500 and under $2,000 give visitors entry points to collecting without making a major investment (relatively speaking).

The fair’s New Futures program, which provides a selected local artist with free exhibition space and professional support, will feature Decatur-based silkscreen and Japanese woodblock printmaker Jennifer Mack-Watkins, the fall 2026 Atlanta recipient.

When: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. October 1; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. October 2; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. October 3; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. October 4
Where: Enspire Mercantile, 259 Milton Ave, Grant Park (adjacent to the Beltline)
Admission: General admission is $20
Highlights: New Futures recipient Jennifer Mack-Watkins; original works priced under $500 and $2,000

SITE at Goat Farm

October 3 | Goat Farm Arts Center, West Midtown

On Saturday, the Goat Farm transforms its 12-acre campus for its third annual SITE festival, bringing more than 50 local, national and international artists together for contemporary art, installation, performance, music, film and open studios. 

Rather than moving from gallery to gallery, visitors move through the former industrial site itself, encountering installations and performances along the way.

This year’s projects include PUPPET, an interactive audiovisual installation by 1024 architecture and French electronic producer Vitalic; DIFFUSION_2, a large-scale calligraphic environment by Brandon Sadler and Rocko Walker; and Ollie Goss’ Goose Song, which combines a DIY carnival ride, video and projection.

Other installations include a collaboration between Living Walls and Addam Yekutieli, Dana Haugaard’s kinetic sound work This Place is Happening, T.W. Pilar’s The Fold and Navin Norling’s Endeavor Our Times, which uses salvaged antique windows and projected light.

When: Saturday, October 3, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Rain or shine)
Where: Goat Farm Arts Center, 1200 Foster St. NW, West Midtown
Admission: Tiered pricing starts at $15 for the first 100 tickets (all ages)
Highlights: 50+ local, national and international artists; site-specific audiovisual installations,; performances; and open studios

OuterSpace Project 2026: Big Bang Party

October 3 | ABV Gallery

OuterSpace Project 2026 wraps up with Big Bang, an immersive closing celebration of art and music with Atlanta’s creative community at ABV Gallery. The event caps a week of live mural painting and cultural programming around the city with an evening of special musical performances, live art, installations, a pop-up shop and more.

Founded by Atlanta artist Greg Mike and presented by ABV Gallery, OuterSpace Project brings artists from Atlanta and around the world together to create murals and transform public spaces through art. For fair-goers looking for something that feels less like a traditional exhibition and more like a celebration, Big Bang offers a different kind of Saturday-night stop.

When: October 3, 3 p.m. to midnight
Where: ABV Gallery, 1206 Metropolitan Ave. SE
Admission: Tickets start at $20
Highlights: A high-energy finale bringing together live art, large-scale murals, music and Atlanta’s creative community

Between Here & Infinity: Celebrating 30 Years of the Spelman College Art Collection

Through December 5 | Spelman College Museum of Fine Art

If the fair offers a snapshot of what artists are making and selling now, Spelman’s fall exhibition offers a look at the artistic legacy one of Atlanta’s most significant institutions has been building for decades.

Between Here & Infinity brings together nearly 70 works by Black women artists from the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art’s permanent collection. The exhibition is the first to span both of the museum’s galleries, with the first portion opened September 9 in the Bank of America Gallery at the Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation & the Arts and the second opening October 1 in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D. Academic Center.

The roster is broad, including artists such as Emma Amos, Firelei Báez, Beverly Buchanan, Elizabeth Catlett, Renée Cox, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Maren Hassinger, Samella Lewis, Valerie Maynard, Zanele Muholi, Howardena Pindell, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems and Billie Zangewa.

When: Wednesdays to Saturdays, 1 p.m.to 5 p.m.
Where: Spelman College Museum of Fine Art (Mary Schmidt Campbell Center & Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center)
Admission: Free
Highlights: Nearly 70 works by Black women artists spanning both museum galleries for the first time

Martin Puryear: Nexus

Through January 17, 2027 | High Museum of Art

Martin Puryear: Nexus brings more than 70 works by the American sculptor to Atlanta, making the museum the exhibition’s exclusive Southeast venue and final stop. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Cleveland Museum of Art, the survey covers more than five decades of Puryear’s work in wood, glass, marble and bronze, as well as drawings and prints.

Puryear’s work draws on craft traditions, material culture, African American history and the physical processes of making. Works including Self, Bower, Alien Huddle, Big Phrygian, Aso Oke and A Column for Sally Hemings reflect the range of those interests.

The timing is especially notable for the High, which turns 100 in October. The museum’s centennial programming includes collection re-installations, new acquisitions and special events. On October 2, High Frequency Friday runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., with DJs and access to the museum’s galleries.

When: On view through January 17, 2027, High Frequency Friday event: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. October 2
Where: High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St. NE
Admission: General admission ticket required (Free for members)
Highlights: Retrospective covering five decades of Puryear’s sculpture and prints; High Museum centennial programming

Atlanta Design Festival

September 26 through October 4 | Multiple locations

For a wider view of how design shapes the city, the Atlanta Design Festival brings architecture, product design, technology and other creative disciplines into the conversation. The nine-day Festival includes exhibitions, film screenings, panels, tours and other programs spread across Atlanta.

One of the weekend’s most hands-on offerings is the MA! Architecture Tours, which will give visitors access to residential and other design projects across metro Atlanta on October 3 and October 4. The self-guided tours run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and highlight contemporary architecture, interiors, materials and landscape design.

When: September 26 to October 4 | MA! Architecture Tours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. October 3 and October 4
Where: Multiple locations throughout Atlanta
Admission: Ticket prices vary by event and tour pass
Highlight: Self-guided architecture tours exploring contemporary spaces and design across the city

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Andrew Alexander is an Atlanta-based writer, editor and arts journalist. A longtime contributor and former senior editor at ArtsATL, his work appears regularly in local, regional and national publications, covering theater, visual art, music, film, dance, literature and the artists and institutions shaping Atlanta’s cultural landscape.