South Fulton Arts kicks off ‘Power of 10,’ $10, 10-week campaign
Celebrating 20 years of serving its community, South Fulton Arts (SFA) recently announced the kickoff of its $10 ‘Power of 10’ crowdfunding campaign to help support its “Pay What You Want” ticket structure and ongoing arts programming. SFA is also opening its annual applications for the 2025 CREATE Partner Program.
Each year, SFA’s strategic partnerships increase access to high-quality, free arts programming for South Fulton County and Metro Atlanta residents and communities. Through these successful, annual partnerships — including artists, teaching artists, schools, and nonprofits — SFA collaborates, connects, and provides seed funding to bring artist-inspired projects to life. These initiatives include free live theater and music performances, festivals, art exhibits, workshops, and more, which all take place at participating partner venues throughout South Fulton County.
“Our CREATE partners are at the heart of what we do. Their extraordinary, and often unsung, talent is what fuels our mission of ‘connecting and engaging communities through the arts,” South Fulton Arts Executive Director Jennifer Bauer-Lyons said. “Each year at this time we open applications for the next generation of creatives to engage and thrive through our unique partnership program. In tandem, we are inviting the community to give with a simple, single $10 donation for a lifetime of arts and entertainment in return.”
— Derek Prall
WABE amplifies Atlanta voices with original TV shows, partial PBS model and revamped radio schedule
Atlanta’s WABE is revamping its television and radio schedules to better serve and engage Atlanta’s audience with more voices, perspectives, and locally-focused content this summer.
“These changes allow us to live up to our promise of “Amplifying Atlanta” by curating a unique mix of local stories and voices that capture the vibrant arts, culture, and community narratives you can’t find elsewhere,” says WABE President and CEO Jennifer Dorian. “It’s public media reimagined to be a distinctive voice for our dynamic city.”
Beginning July 1, fans of WABE TV will find a mix of acclaimed PBS shows alongside more local productions on PBS-30 or streaming on wabe.org, WABE Mobile App, Hulu + Live, YouTube TV, and other streamers. To fill that pipeline, WABE will continue to produce original programs such as Sounds Like ATL, Atlanta on Film, (re)Defining History, and My Money Mentors through its WABE Studios-Video arm while partnering with local arts and cultural institutions, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera, and High Museum of Art, to license Atlanta-centric cultural content for broadcast.
The station will continue to air PBS mainstays PBS Newshour, BBC Newshour, Great Performances, Finding Your Roots, and Nova. New shows premiering this summer and fall on WABE TV include:
- Closer Look Coffee Conversations. Rose Scott takes her popular weekday civic affairs radio show into the community to hear the issues that matter most to Atlanta neighborhoods.
- Black In The Garden. At the intersection of horticulture and Black culture, host Colah B Tawkin brings her acclaimed podcast, exploring issues impacting Black communities and Mother Earth, to video.
- Montgomery & Company. WNBA Champion and part-owner of the Atlanta Dream, Renee Montgomery, is coming to WABE TV to discuss family, sports, culture, and fun with guests across sports, business, and entertainment.
- WABE Time Capsule. A collection of shows from 40 years of WABE’s archives, capturing snapshots of Atlanta’s recent history, neighborhoods, issues, and culture.
- Saving the Chattahoochee. A film by Atlanta filmmaker Hal Jacobs chronicling the story of the Atlanta women who defended the Chattahoochee River over five decades.
- No Ordinary Life. Atlanta documentarian Heather O’Neill celebrates the careers and courage of five pioneering female photojournalists who braved the frontlines of war.
- WABE Night at the Arts. A weekly series featuring performances and behind-the-scenes content from Atlanta’s cultural institutions.
— Derek Prall
CareSource donates $1.4 million to Learning to Serve, expanding opportunities for education in Georgia
CareSource, a managed care plan serving more than 440,000 Georgians, announced a $1.4 million donation to the Pathways to Education Scholarship.
CareSource created the scholarship to help Georgia students, including those with complex needs and those in underserved communities, attend schools that best fit their educational needs. Learning to Serve, a Georgia Student Scholarship Organization, administers the scholarship.
“Through our collaboration with Learning to Serve, we are expanding educational opportunities to students with learning differences and students from underserved, rural communities who would greatly benefit from a smaller school setting,” said Jason Bearden, president of CareSource Georgia. “Studies show that people who are well educated experience better health outcomes. These scholarships are empowering families with the freedom to send their child to the school that will serve their individual needs and create the educational foundation that will lead them to become healthy, thriving adults.”
— Derek Prall
Orkin unveils new uniforms designed by SCAD students
Atlanta-based pest control company Orkin recently announced its recent partnership with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) resulting in new uniforms for its 10,000 employees.
The company’s marketing team approached the university’s SCADpro, a collaborative innovation studio that generates business solutions for the world’s most influential brands, with a design challenge to reimagine the company’s uniforms, which are anchored in white, red, and black with classic khaki as their color palette.
The team consisted of 16 students in fashion, fashion marketing and management, graphic design, art history, animation, illustration, and other departments to create marketing briefs for the company.
“The opportunity to work with Orkin allowed SCAD students to see their thoughtful work launch into the world and positively impact both the consumer and employee experience,” said Paul Stonick, vice president of SCADpro. “By implementing strategies in areas including textile sourcing, corporate social responsibility, and integrated marketing, students successfully delivered the Orkin uniform to look professional and represent Orkin’s tradition and storied background.”
The new uniform design has minor silhouette changes but is true to the Orkin heritage and better meeting the needs of every Orkin Pro and is elevated with more sophisticated and versatile textile choices and thoughtful utility details.
— Allison Joyner
True Colors Theatre awarded $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation
Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company recently announced it received a $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant will provide essential infrastructure and staffing support for the historic Atlanta theater company for the next two years.
The foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. It believes that these are where we express our complex humanity and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found.
The funds will help the company continue its mission of celebrating and preserving the rich traditions of Black storytelling.
— Allison Joyner
ARCHI, ARC and Visiting Nurse Health System awarded funding to develop, expand and enhance ability to operate as community care hubs
The Atlanta Regional Community Care Hub Development was selected as one of 20 grantees for USAging’s Center of Excellence to Align Health and Social Care (COE).
With the funding received through the COE, Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI), Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and Visiting Nurse Health System will be able to establish this Community Care Hub (CCH) in Metro Atlanta, a crucial step to addressing challenges in health disparities, access and coordination of care. Led collaboratively by these backbone organizations, this initiative aims to coordinate services and leverage the partners’ expertise and networks to promote wellness and equity and drive an intentional process toward Hub activation.
“We’re honored to be the sole Southeastern recipient of this prestigious grant,” said Jeff Smythe, Executive Director of ARCHI. “This funding enables us to engage directly with two vital demographics — our cherished older adults and individuals with disabilities — to understand their unique challenges. By actively listening and collaborating, we’re committed to implementing solutions that genuinely enhance their healthcare experiences within our community and invert the burden of navigating a disparate system from the individual.”
— Derek Prall
Morris Brown launches five-year strategic plan
Last week, Morris Brown College (MBC) President Kevin James announced a new five-year strategic plan called “The Resurgence: Reset and Ready 2024-2029.”
In a statement, he said the plan will help the historically Black college achieve its institutional goals, including increasing financial sustainability, elevating academic prominence, enhancing infrastructure and operations, enhancing student engagement and enrollment, maximizing strategic partnership and stakeholder engagement, and obtaining institutional effectiveness and efficiency.
“With the dedicated leadership of a steering committee composed of trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni, this pathway to continued excellence has resulted in a realigned vision within our existing guiding principles, framework and six new strategic priorities,” James said. “These priorities serve as the core of our aspirations as a premier institution of higher learning.”
He added that MBC is prepared to reengage and position itself as an accredited and innovative institution ready to make a meaningful impact for everyone who enters the doors for all hungry souls.
— Allison Joyner
Clayton County Schools renews free meal program
On Wednesday, Clayton County Public Schools (CCPS) announced that they will continue to implement the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program for the 2024-2025 school year.
The program will offer meals at no cost to all students and eliminate the distribution and processing of free and reduced meal applications.
The program is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which ensures that every child can participate in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
CCPS qualifies for this program by having more than 40 percent of the Identified Student population eligible for meals at no cost over a four-year period.
Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville join forces to host Household Hazardous Waste event
On Tuesday, the cities of Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville, with collaboration with Live Thrive and Keep Chamblee Beautiful will host a household hazardous materials recycling event Sat. Aug. 17 at the Plaza Fiesta on Buford Hwy.
Residents can make an appointment and register to dispose of their household waste only; no commercial, industrial, or business waste or excessive quantities will be accepted.
The accepted items are:
- Electronics — no large appliances or rear projection TVs
- Paint
- Chemicals/Pesticides
- Styrofoam
- Plastic Film (must be cleaned and dry)
- Textiles/Clothing (usable and unusable accepted)
Click here for more information.
— Allison Joyner
2025 registration now open for AJC Peachtree Road Race
As of this week, over 7,000 people are already registered for the 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.
Atlanta Track Club announced the official opening of registration just a few short days ago on the morning of this year’s race. The 2024 event surpassed 50,000 registrations, marking the largest post-pandemic rebound and the highest registration figures in the last five years.
“We thought it would be fun to get a head start on 2025 while memories of Atlanta’s best day of the year are still fresh,” said Rich Kenah, CEO of Atlanta Track Club and race director of the Peachtree. “And this early registration period gives everyone who’s still feeling the energy of the event – participants, friends, family, spectators, viewers of the race’s livestream – the chance to guarantee their spot in next year’s race without having to rely on getting in via the lottery.”
For more information and to register, please visit www.atlantatrackclub.org.
— Derek Prall
Wild Haven Beer’s Low Country Boil
On Saturday July 13 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Wild Heaven Beer is throwing a summer bash in The Garden Club at West End. The second annual Crab Trap & Tap, a feast inspired by the time-honored Maryland tradition of gathering around a table covered in newspaper, armed with mallets and knives, and savoring the succulent, sweet meat of freshly steamed crabs.
Guests will enjoy fresh steamed Maryland blue crabs flown in from Harbour House Crabs and will be treated to a Low Country Boil featuring an all-you-can-eat feast of shrimp, corn, potatoes, and other fun salty and sweet summer treats. Nero Simon & The Sunsetters will provide music.
For more information or to purchase tickets to Wild Heaven Beer’s second annual Crab Trap and Tap, visit wildheavenbeer.com or call 404.254.2232. Tickets will not be sold after July 11.
