Georgia: More than Murals

A mural of the creative district of Thomasville, Georgia, on a wall located in a vacant lot as seen through one eyeglass lens

Thomasville Center for the Arts UnVacant Lot public art venue. Photo by Gabe Hanway for THOM Magazine

Arts and cultural strategies have the potential to strengthen the social fabric of communities. In an effort to address community challenges as well as to encourage economic growth, the Georgia Council for the Arts launched the More than Murals Workshop. The pilot project was developed after noting the overwhelming response to a virtual workshop previously conducted by the Georgia Arts Council for the Georgia Municipal Association on using the arts for economic and community development.

With the goal of developing relationships between local governments and artists/arts organizations, City of Thomasville Downtown & Tourism Development, Georgia Council for the Arts, Georgia Municipal Association, and Thomasville Center for the Arts have partnered to offer the workshop February 22-24, 2023, in Thomasville, Georgia. Thomasville was picked as the project location based on past successful initiatives led by the city that include the Creative District and the UnVacant Lot. The three-day intensive workshop will offer three teams from 10 cities the opportunity to experience strategies of integrating the arts into a city’s economic and community development plans. In addition, the participants will be able to interact with the local artists, arts organizations, city officials and business leaders in Thomasville to learn about their success stories as well as the challenges they encountered in their work.

Each partner is designed to play a distinct and significant role in the project in addition to collectively creating the workshop agenda. The Georgia Council for the Arts will be responsible for organizing and leading the project. The Georgia Municipal Association will serve as the state service organization for city governments and assist with organizational details and getting the word out to cities. Managing communications with local venues, walking tours and coordinating presenters will be managed by City of Thomasville Downtown & Tourism Development and the Thomasville Center for the Arts.

Rural communities are at the heart of this project. Priority will be given to applications from communities with populations under 50,000. There is no participation fee, however applicants must be accepted to attend. Each city will be awarded $500 for travel and lodging. Funding for this project is made possible through the state American Rescue Plan allocation. To learn more, please contact Georgia Council for the Arts Executive Director Tina Lilly.