Elevate Atlanta - Corey Barksdale Visual Art
Corey Barksdale: Vibrant Voices on Atlanta’s Walls
ELEVATE Atlanta Art Festival is one of the city’s most dynamic public art events, and artist Corey Barksdale has played a key role in bringing that vision to life. A master of color, movement, and cultural storytelling, Barksdale’s murals serve not only as powerful visuals—but as lasting cultural statements.
Each October, ELEVATE transforms Atlanta’s neighborhoods into immersive art experiences. Corey Barksdale’s contributions stand out for their emotional depth and bold storytelling. His large-scale public works amplify themes of African American identity, community strength, and cultural pride. With brush in hand, Barksdale captures the rhythm of the city—its music, its movement, its people.
From civil rights murals to depictions of everyday joy and resilience, Corey’s work pulses with energy and soul. His painting “I AM A MAN”, featured as part of ELEVATE, echoes the cries for justice and dignity, turning public space into a place of remembrance, resistance, and hope.
Art That Speaks to Atlanta’s Soul
Since 2011, ELEVATE has inspired over 250 media stories and attracted more than 13,000 new visitors downtown. But beyond the numbers, the real success lies in the legacy of its murals—many of which remain part of Atlanta’s visual landscape today. Corey’s murals, like the one located in the historic West End, aren’t just beautiful—they’re conversation starters.
His pieces are often featured in cultural tours, educational talks, and civic initiatives aimed at increasing visibility for Black artists and underrepresented communities. The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Office of Public Art continue to support his work for its ability to inspire and engage diverse audiences.
Why Corey Barksdale’s Murals Matter
• They Reflect Real Stories: Corey draws inspiration from the African American experience, history, and the urban landscapes of Atlanta.
• They Empower Communities: His murals celebrate unsung heroes, everyday people, and local culture—transforming walls into mirrors of community identity.
• They Stimulate Conversation: His imagery provokes thought, encourages dialogue, and contributes to social awareness.
Book Corey Barksdale for a Mural Project
Corey is available for mural commissions across the U.S. If you’re looking to bring life to a wall, inspire your community, or make a bold artistic statement, Corey Barksdale is the artist to bring your vision to reality.
📩 Email: clow2ground@gmail.com
📞 Call: 615-601-2787
🌐 Learn more: CoreyBarksdale.com
Since its inaugural year in 2011, more than 250 articles have been published regarding the new cultural vitality of the city. The project has ignited conversations regarding the importance of cultural districts in City Planning and Urban Design Departments as well as the City Council and surrounding communities.
In addition, many of the temporary projects created through the festival still exist today in their site-specific areas. ELEVATE was placed in the top 50 public art projects in the Nation by “Americans for the Arts Public Art Network,” as well as the top 10 projects for City Livability.
Launched in 2011, the first exhibition of ELEVATE hosted 15 events and 40 performances over 66 days. Artwork filled vacant properties, street corners and plazas to showcase artwork ranging from 13 story murals to contemporary dance, video, installation and poetry.
Although public funding allocated through our percent for art program was the direct source for the artist commissions, additional funding to execute an exhibition of this caliber was provided through local Atlanta businesses.
A growing body of research has positively identified murals with social, cultural, and economic benefits as well as positive mental health.
Murals create a tangible sense of place, destination, resulting in increased foot traffic while adding color, vibrancy, and character to urban environment.
Murals contrast the negative mental health effects of concrete and asphalt, and can have therapeutic benefits for mentally-ill and homeless populations.
Murals offer accessibility to art and creative expression without the cost and class-based barriers associated with museums and galleries, as well as architectural integration into the physical environment.
In addition, public art initiatives have been identified as an equity-advancement strategy for economic development of populations at risk of displacement.
Donation of art space, hotel rooms, theatrical lighting, food, advertising and cash support nearly doubled the exhibitions initial budget, demonstrating the immediate community support. This intensive cultural programming brought in 13,313 new visitors to downtown Atlanta.
At the end of the program, downtown property owners and businesses adopted the bulk of the visual work commissioned through ELEVATE. The artwork has now been incorporated into the permanent downtown landscape. In addition to the adopted artwork, other aesthetic improvements to the downtown district were implemented surrounding the close of ELEVATE. Underground Atlanta was publicly earmarked for a potential art space by Atlanta Mayor, Kasim Reed.
Elevate strives to build bridges in the downtown community though partnerships and collaboration. The total amount of partnerships formed in ELEVATE 2011 was 19, including Universities, not for profit organizations, government organizations and private businesses. Within one month following the close of Elevate 2011, 101 local, national and international articles were published regarding downtown Atlanta, the arts and most importantly their relationship to the businesses and surrounding economy.
ELEVATE officially became an annual downtown arts program of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs in 2012. Now in the sixth year, the physical project area has been extended from coverage of three blocks to all of central downtown Atlanta. We expect ELEVATE 2016 programs and commissions to impact the Atlanta economy, increase the quality of life for our citizens, educate the public and gain global attention for our city as a creative and culturally engaging contemporary city.
Atlanta is home to many rich histories. The city is constantly becoming. As a cultural community, we grapple with issues of socioeconomic disparity and identity politics from a uniquely Southern, and specifically Atlanta perspective.
Aesthetics and conversations of Race, Gender, Class, Ability, Nationality, Sexuality and other identities are not things to neutralize but to acknowledge and celebrate.
The citizens of Atlanta exist at various intersections of these identities, so rather than an individual vision, the curatorial team brings together a few different perspectives in order to execute an accessible yet nuanced presentation. The curators of Microcosm represent a sample of the diverse Atlanta art community and its relationship to the economics of the built environment.
The curatorial team is made up of Allie Bashuk, Monica Campana, Mark DiNatale, and Pastiche Lumumba, who aim to bring often whispered conversations out into the streets through public art, dialog, and performance. South Downtown, like the rest of our city, and country, is situated at a crucial moment in its history.
This time and space is a Microcosm from which we can unpack a multidimensional dialogue about the past, present, and future of cultural value in South Downtown.
404 Dinner
The 404 South Broad Dinner was a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Living Walls, artists, businesses and residents of the South Downtown Atlanta Arts District. The dinner served as a platform for Atlantans to create a vision for the area. Through the act of dining, attendees conducted a research project that discovered what the residents of South Downtown wished to see in their community in the coming years. The dinner helped to uncover the histories of the residents in the area.
Atlanta is amidst rapid changes, particularly within the South Downtown area. As a way to strive for more organic change and growth, the dinner asked the residents of South Downtown what is it they envision for the future of the neighborhood, and what can we all do better to keep the history of the neighborhood alive.
404 Dinner hosts included Monica Campana, Priscilla Smith and Patrick. Special thanks to Quianah Upton, Priscilla Smith, Patrick, Jared Pepper, Kyle Kessler, William Kennedy, and many more South Downtown residents and businesses.
Corey Barksdale artworks explore themes that reflect the African American experience in paintings.
Barksdale's art is revered by a diverse group of collectors and admirers across the country.
His art has a unique style of energy and movement
He's well-known for his unique style of energy, movement, and vivid color combinations.
Corey Barksdale Contemporary Art
His art focuses on images of both historical and contemporary African American life and culture
