Artists & Galleries

In 1962 a chartered plane crashed in Orly, France, killing 106 of Atlanta’s core art patrons. Afterward, it seemed the light went out of the art scene here. But three years later, a group of energetic, civic-minded women lit the spark again, establishing the Forward Arts Foundation to support the visual arts, the group’s mission then and now.

“Who knows?” says Charles Gandy with a laugh, when asked what inspires his ideas for fantastical knitted socks. With witty names like Dancing with the Stars, DreadSox, and Eyes of March, his creations are meant to inspire wonder, not to warm feet.

For art collectors, the ACC that matters in March is the annual artisan show at the Cobb Galleria—where makers from all over the country come to stage Atlanta's best annual market.

Jewelry artist Judie Raiford’s multidisciplinary gallery has been a Roswell institution since 1996. She talked with us about how she began making jewelry and whether the DIY movement has helped or hurt galleries.

From his days as an art student, when actress Joan Crawford presented him with a National Watercolor Show award, to his time spent working for New York design legend Billy Baldwin, who once entrusted his young protégé with hanging a client’s priceless Francisco Goya, Atlanta decorator Stan Topol has spent his life steeped in art.

Every morning, Anita Darling walks barefoot to her backyard greenhouse in Suwanee. She stands still, feeling the dew under her feet, sips her coffee, and prays—in order to align herself with God and nature before starting to draw.

Laura Bell is fascinated by the fraught interactions between humans and other species. A cross-country road trip three years ago ignited Bell’s penchant for drawing and painting vulnerable species. Now she creates detailed, black-and-white drawings of animals, with a pop of paint to define their natural habitats.

The Atlanta artist talks about working with fiber, her upcoming Invisible:VisAble exhibit at the Abernathy Arts Center, and the children's book she wrote and illustrated.

“I find embracing so-called women’s work to be very cathartic and meditative,” says Zipporah Camille Thompson. “I’m creating my own narrative, while embracing the narrative of those matriarchs who came before and used their hands to create things.”

Artist Sally King Benedict has earned a national reputation—becoming a favorite of regional publications like Garden & Gun and Southern Living. Online sales of her famous faces series sell out in minutes. She’s also presented solo shows at prestigious galleries. We met at her studio to discuss her inspiration, her work, and how she’s handling all of this success.