ALL ABOUT ATLANTA

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 "The Center" is a 33-acre campus of historic homes, exhibitions, folk art, and archives highlighting the political and cultural history of Atlanta and the surrounding region. There's quite a bit of Civil War art and artifacts, along with written commentary on the Native American history of Georgia. Perfect preparation for Plenary Speaker Claudio Saunt. 

 Curious about COVID and other diseases? Visit the CDC Museum. The museum’s permanent collection tells the story of the CDC using documents, photo, and artifacts. 

Of particular interest is a seemingly odd choice for the CDC: Ghosts of Segregation by photographer Rich Frishman. In 2021, the CDC declared racism a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans. 

One of the biggest museums in the southest, The High boasts a permanent collection of some 17,000 works that includes a bit of everything: photography; decorative arts; and classic European and American works. In 2019, the musuem added a collection that includes works from artists such as Boudin, Monet, Pissarro, Modigliani, and Matisse.  

EVEN BETTER, spend some time in the High’s Folk and Self-Taught Art collection, featuring the work of those shaped not by formal training but by lessons learned from family, community, work, and spiritual experiences using not only traditional materials but available materials including stone from local quarries, decommissioned doors, scrapyard metal, leftover fabric, and even chewing gum.

  The Fernbank explores science, nature, human culture, and prehistory. You can see  fossils, nature, gems, and artifacts. There's also an IMAX theatre that screens 3D movies (in March see The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness unfolds one of Earth’s most extraordinary spectacles and is the first cinematic exploration of a world largely unseen). Especially cool is the  65-acre old-growth forest--including outdoor exhibits, walking trails, a canopy walk, and native wildlife!  What makes the Fernbabk unique among so many natural history museums is its Georgia-centric exhibits.

Here, we have Atlanta's "alternative art museum." Founded in 1973 as Nexus, a grassroots artists’ cooperative, Atlanta Contemporary presents over 200 artists and creatives from the local, national, and international art scenes through its various exhibition, project spaces, and programs. A cool feature is The Atrium Wall—measuring 20 feet long and 14 feet high—designed to push an artist's practice through the creation of a site-specific installation. Each mural project remains on view for one year. 

Best of all, it's FREE!   

Take a trip to the beautiful campus of Emory University and "spend the day a world awa"y by visiting the Carlos Museum. Located in the heart of campus, the museum  is an interdisciplinary center for the study of art and culture, featuring collections from Africa; ancient Egypt, Nubia, and the Near East; ancient Greece and Rome; the Indigenous Americas; and South Asia.
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 The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park is expansive. It includes Dr. King’s birthplace at 501 Auburn Avenue, the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the graves of Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King. The site also features the totally cool International Civil Rights Walk of Fame, honoring other Civil Rights activists displaying their actual footsteps in granite and bronze.

 The Carter Presidential Library and Museum  traces the life and work of President Jimmy Carter through immersive exhibitions, objects, documents, photographs, videos, and beautiful gifts from world leaders, It offers a peek into the modern American Presidency.The Museum sits in a  35-acre park with two small lakes, a Japanese garden and a spectacular view of the Atlanta skyline.  

  Located in Atlanta's historic West End, the Wren’s Nest was home to controversial American writer, Joel Chandler Harris. It is Atlanta's oldest house museum, operating for more than 100 years. The mission of the museum is to preserve the legacy of Joel Chandler Harris and the heritage of African-American folklore. The museum offers docent led tours that includes Saturday  storytelling by a professional storytellers. 

Swan House is located on the extensive grounds of the Atlanta History Center. Built in 1928, Swan House was designed by prominent Atlanta architect Philip T. Shutze for Edward H. Inman, a wealthy Atlanta cotton industry executive, and his wife Emily. It is an excellent example of the Second Renaissance Revival style popular at the end of the 1920s. After Emily Inman’s death in 1965, the Swan House became the home of the Atlanta Historical Society.  

You might recognize Swan House as the home of President Snow in the HUNGER GAMES movies!

  Located in the Sweet Auburn historic district, the AARL is the first public library in the Southeast offering specialized library service, archival resources, and culturally/educationally related activities essential for study  of the culture and history of peoples of African descent. 

Located in the eclectic Five Points neighborhood, A Cappella is known for its politically a. Their collection includes a large selection of Beat literature. 

Pop into the purple house that is Charis Books & More. Opened in 1974, it is   

 the South’s oldest feminist bookstore,  specializing in feminist and cultural studies titles, diverse and unique children’s books, books on anti-racism, and LGBTQA+ fiction and non-fiction.

Where can you see Cookie Monster sharing a snickerdoodle with Chucky?  (And for MST3K fans, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot—IYKYK!) The Center for Puppetry Art!  

The museum's Global Gallery presents a geographic exploration of the history and traditions of puppetry from across the globe revealing how puppetry has been used to communicate messages of reverence, humor, protest, and entertainment across different cultures.  The Jim Henson Gallery explores the  influential legacy of the animator, inventor, filmmaker, screenwriter, and puppeteer. See both Henson's iconic and lesser-known creations from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and more. 

If you want to understand the history of the hip-hop sub-genre that came out of Atlanta, you need to visit The Trap. The interactive museum includes a to-scale replica of a convenience store—the kind still found in  non-gentrified Atlanta--filled with sodas and candies as well as rolling papers and glass pipes “; "Grandma’s living room,”  with its boarded-up windows and childhood portraits of now- famous musicians, inclduing T.I., 2 Chainz, Cardi B, 21 Savage, and Migos, also features "prop" jars of weed, and dime bags of fake cocaine; and a replica crack cocaine cook site. Central is a recreation of Atlanta rapper T.I.’s closet--in the middle of the closet, surrounded by assault rifles and other guns, is his Grammy award. The award signals T.I.'s evolution from the trap life to international fame. 

Love 'em or hate 'em, college sports are part of the lives of nearly everyone associated with higher education. A trip to the HOF will feed your fan frenzy or it might make you a believer. There are a number of interactive exhibits, a giant indoor playing field where you can live your football hero fantasies. If football is not your jam, then take a seat at the Game Day desk and try your hand as an ESPN Game Day host. And, there's my favorite feature: Fight Song Karaoke. (Oh, and there's digital face painting, too!)

The HOF is located near a few other local highlights including Centennial Olypic Park, the CNN Center, and the World of Coca-Cola!