NEXT Atlanta elevates extraordinary artists of color—particularly Black artists—and harnesses the power of their art to drive meaningful change in our communities.
Working at the intersection of art and activism, NEXT creates platforms where artists can speak to the issues shaping our communities and inspire dialogue, visibility, and action. Through salons, creative partnerships, cultural programming, and storytelling campaigns, we center artists as powerful voices for equity, civic engagement, and community transformation.
Thriving Together reflects NEXT’s belief that artists can help communities process challenges, envision solutions, and move toward healing. Conceived and curated by NEXT Atlanta, the initiative brings artists directly into communities through a mobile creative platform that integrates visual art, performance, storytelling, and wellness-centered engagement.
By elevating multidisciplinary artists and centering their work in conversations about health, equity, and community well-being, Thriving Together creates spaces where neighbors, civic leaders, and policymakers can engage directly with the ideas and experiences artists bring forward. Through this work, artists are positioned not only as creators but as storytellers and advocates helping communities imagine new paths toward collective wellness.
Through BLVDNEXT, NEXT Atlanta partnered with Integral Group to ensure artists and community voices are part of the story of Atlanta’s evolving neighborhoods. The initiative centers artists of color whose work reflects the history, identity, and lived experiences of communities along the historic Boulevard corridor.
NEXT curated participating artists and shaped the storytelling strategy behind the installations, transforming development spaces into platforms for cultural expression. By embedding artists in the development process, the project elevates creative voices while ensuring the stories of historically marginalized communities remain visible as the city grows and changes.
The NEXT Movement emerged during a time defined by both a global pandemic and a national racial reckoning. Created by NEXT Atlanta, the initiative brought together artists, musicians, poets, and cultural leaders whose work responded directly to the moment communities were experiencing.
Through performances, dialogue, and collaboration, artists used their creative practice to reflect on grief, resilience, justice, and hope. The program positioned art as a powerful tool for helping communities process crisis, confront systemic inequities, and imagine paths forward together.
In partnership with WhiteSpace Gallery, NEXT hosted an outdoor salon that convened artists, cultural leaders, and community members to explore the role artists can play during moments of political and social tension.
Through curated performances, conversation, and creative exchange, the gathering examined how artists respond to policies and rhetoric affecting Black and brown communities. The event created a forum where creativity served as both reflection and response, demonstrating the power of art to spark dialogue and mobilize community engagement.
NEXT: Off the Wall brought artists and audiences together for an immersive cultural experience along the Atlanta BeltLine. Curated by NEXT Atlanta, the event featured projection art, storytelling, and creative programming that elevated artists’ perspectives in a highly visible setting.
By transforming a familiar urban landscape into a space for creative expression and dialogue, the event demonstrated how artists can engage broader audiences while amplifying voices and ideas that shape our communities.
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On Saturday, March 28, the Thriving Together Mobile Art Experience rolls into Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward for an afternoon of music, art, healing, and community.
From 1–4 PM at BLVDNEXT (518 East Avenue), enjoy a live performance by Bria Anai, poet Adan Bean and the Soul Drummers Ensemble, a live mural by the Moma Murrell Collective, sound bowl healing with Dr. Kim Farris, and the unveiling of a new construction art wrap installation.
Free and open to the public.