Poets, Artists & Madmen

Atlanta’s art scene is on the verge of something significant — teetering between making it and breaking it. Long regarded as a creative hodgepodge, the city’s poets, artists and madmen have worked tirelessly in the last year to help redefine the city’s artistic identity. They attracted international attention with the colossal grassroots street art conference Living Walls, improved our public art profile with gloATL and Art on the Beltline, and cultivated the kind of TV- and filmmaking-friendly environment that’s allowed for the conversion of Lakewood Fairgrounds into a Hollywood-worthy soundstage, and the local filming of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” So what does the future hold for the arts in Atlanta? Can we build on the momentum we’ve recently gained? Judging from the last year’s creative outpouring, the scales are tipped in the right direction.

— Debbie Michaud