The 2026 Fall Arts Preview: Our picks in Art + Design

Jhazzmyn Joiner

August 19, 2026

Between the High Museum’s centennial lineup, the Atlanta Art Fair, Atlanta BeltLine Art events, fall art festivals and gallery exhibitions, there is no shortage of art happenings to explore as the foliage turns.

Atlanta Art Fair

The third annual Atlanta Art Fair (AAF) returns to Pullman Yards October 1 through October 4 with an expanded lineup of installations, performances, talks and programming presented alongside works from leading galleries across the South and around the globe. This year’s Fair will host more than 70 galleries from far-reaching places, including Korea, Spain and Uganda.

One highlight this year is Low Grit Grins, a special exhibition curated by Sarah Higgins that will feature several Georgia artists, including: Antonio Darden, a conceptual artist mining memory and grief through satire; Victoria Dugger, a Southern Gothic painter probing Black womanhood; and Tori Tinsley, a painter examining caregiving and motherhood with dark humor. The exhibition will explore absurdity as a vehicle for storytelling and the role of laughter in processing difficult times.

Also returning for its second year is the Balentine Prize, which recognizes outstanding artists from the South. Participating galleries will nominate two works for consideration, with the winning artwork earning a spot in the Balentine Collection. This year’s jury includes Nato Thompson, Mark Bell, Ph.D. and Melissa Messina.

MOCA GA Grand Opening

Construction has been underway at MOCA GA’s new home, set to open in the last quarter of 2026.

One of the most anticipated art happenings this fall will be the grand opening of MOCA GA at its new home on Foster Street in West Midtown near the Goat Farm. In May, former ArtsATL Senior Editor Isadora Pennington wrote all about what visitors can expect inside and outside the contemporary new building. Whispers say the new center could open as early as September. Stay tuned — it’s gonna be exciting.

High Museum’s Centennial Lineup

*Walter Wick (American, born Hartford, Connecticut, 1953),* Sky High, *from* Can You See What I See? *Dream Machine, 2003, pigmented inkjet photograph, New Britain Museum of American Art, gift of Walter Wick and Linda Cheverton Wick. © 2003 Walter Wick.*

As the High Museum celebrates 100 years, it’s upped the ante on impressive art exhibitions. The Museum is closing out several major shows this fall before turning to a run of new openings. Amy Sherald: American Sublime wraps up its national tour at the High through September 27. In the Sifly Piazza outside, Los Porfiados (The Stubborns), a playful installation of 14 monumental inflatable sculptures by Chilean design studio gt2P, remains through November 29. Paper Trees, on view now through February 2027, traces depictions of trees and the natural world across nearly two centuries of American art.

Three more major exhibitions open this fall: I SPY! Walter Wick’s Hidden Wonders (August 28 through January 3, 2027) features the trippy works by the photographer behind the beloved children’s I SPY book series; Martin Puryear: Nexus (September 25 through January 17, 2027) is a comprehensive Puryear retrospective; and Photography as a Way of Life: Minor White, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan (October 9 through February 7, 2027) examines three photographers who redefined the medium in the mid-20th century.

Fall art + design festivals

Cabbagetown Murals — Forward Warrior is an annual celebration of street art in Cabbagetown. This Trudy Tran mural was seen during the 2022 Forward Warrior festival. This year’s festival is September 18 through September. 20. (Photo by Arthur Rudick)

SITE 2026 on October 3 is a one-night-only, experimental, contemporary art festival that transforms the entire 12-acre Goat Farm campus into an immersive art experience with artwork from roughly 40 artists and live music.

The Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces (AFFPS) keeps the city’s outdoor art calendar packed with seven festivals spread across metro Atlanta parks and neighborhoods throughout the fall, including the Sandy Springs Fall Arts Festival, September 12 and September 13; Buckhead Arts Festival, September 19 and September 20; Old Fourth Ward Arts Festival, September 26 and September 27; Fall Festival on Ponce, October 10 and October 11; Chastain Park Fall Arts Festival, November 7 and November 8; and the Piedmont Holiday Gift Market, November 28 and November 29.

Forward Warrior is back with its annual celebration of street art murals in Cabbagetown September 18 through September 20.

Atlanta Design Festival, September 26 through October 4, gathers organizations and creatives to host installations, exhibits, screenings and architecture tours, all centered around elevating the art of design.

Art + events on the BeltLine

Atlanta BeltLine Art continues to transform public spaces across the city with the largest outdoor temporary art exhibition in the Southeast. The organization hosts an annual exhibition that spans approximately 12 miles of the BeltLine’s planned 22-mile corridor and features installations, murals, sculptures and performances from artists across the region. This year’s exhibition includes three newly commissioned murals by Atlanta artists Poetry Jackson, Nick “Turbo” Benson and Brandon Sadler and the debut of Y. Malik Jalal’s Catherine M. Owens Memorial sculpture on the Southeast Trail, honoring the former Beltline engineer.

Performances will also unfold along the Beltline. On August 15, gloATL premieres Making Kin, a processional live-art piece created by vocalist Monique Osorio, choreographer Lauri Stallings and Grammy award winning tenor saxophonist Kebbi Williams. A second performance follows on October 4.

The Atlanta Beltline Lantern Parade will return on September 19. Last year’s was canceled due to stormy weather. This year, organizers are back with an expanded route along the Southwest Trail at dusk, featuring lanterns, marching bands, giant puppets and community performances.

On October 24, Chantelle Rytter brings Where the Weird Things Are to Old Fourth Ward Park. And November 6 through November 8 sees Naomi Perry’s ATL StyleWriters Jam activate multiple sites along the Beltline.

Gallery and museum exhibitions

The Sun ATL is featuring the work of legendary jazz photographer Chuck Stewart. Chuck Stewart: Framing the Sound is on view through September 26. Read Chad Radford’s review here.

Cat Eye Creative recently opened Vanna Black’s debut solo exhibition Grace for Ebb, on view through September 13. Janice Rago’s solo exhibition Tending the Wild opens September 12.

Spalding Nix Fine Art is showing Mindful Seeing with work by Carlyle Wolfe Lee, Tim Hunter, Amanda Joy Brown and Scotty Peek through September 11.

Old Rabbit Gallery has Today and Tomorrow, a solo art exhibition by Miya Bailey, September 11.

Spelman College is showcasing Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides through September 5. Read Leia Genis’ review here.

Gallery 100 is displaying Paper Quilts and Stories by Lisa Tuttle now through September 3. Tuttle uses abstract quilting and mixed media in this exhibit.

MODA’s Salt: A Design Story is on view until October 31. The exhibit explores how salt is a designer (influencing natural landscapes, politics and war), designed (as in craft salts, salt shakers and package design) and has spurred design of industry, machinery and entire cities.

The Center for Puppetry Arts has two shows on through the end of the year — Frame by Frame: The Art of Stop-Motion Animation through November 1, and Festive Features from November 11through December 27.

Michael C. Carlos Museum has Compassion on view until November 1. This exhibition asks what moves us and gives us purpose.

Hambidge Center is having its annual Fall Open House, an opportunity for the community to tour the campus, visit open studios and galleries, make art and attend performances.

African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta is opening Mending to Preserve, an exhibition of multimedia works by Selorm Attikpo.

Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance is showcasing its Square Foot Fiber Art Pin Up Show through August 29. It is the 14th edition of the exhibition, which features textile arts.

The Marcia Wood Gallery is showcasing Beyond the Map: Where Imagination Becomes a Form of Navigation through August 29.

The Pollinator Art Space is featuring I Remember When, an exhibit focused on nostalgia and moments of the imagination August 21 through October 16. The exhibit will be open during the Goat Farm’s SITE 2026.

Decatur Arts Alliance has two exhibitions happening this fall, including The Book As Art v.14: Ghosted from September 11 through October 24; and Placita Latina v.6: Puentes from September 18 through October 16.

Oglethorpe University has Realism Revisited on display from now until February 2027.

Georgia Tech’s exhibit The Craft of Paper is on view until January 2027. It showcases modern interpretations of crafting paper, with works by Michael Velliquette.

Whitespace has four exhibits on display until September 12, including Heart of A Bird by Constance Thalken: Uncertainty by Lauren Lesley; Glimmers by Seana Reilly and Ann Stewart; and Psychic Waters by Chris Musina.

Echo Contemporary is having its fifth Annual Guardian Studios Artists exhibition from now until August 30. Artist Forum Atlanta is on September 5, followed by Nuestra Creación from September 11 through September 26.