A self-guided walk along the Westside trail’s artwork and history.
Start at 1000 White Street
I like this location because you can grab a coffee or beer to go, but I specifically love this entrance because of the way they’ve painted the concrete to reference the drainage pipes.
Head past the SERVE YOUR NEIGHBOR sign and down the hill
Cross the bridge and take a right.
“Reflection” by Erica Chisolm for Living Walls 2021
“Reflection” is inspired by identity and dualities. The person you are. The person they see, and the person you see. I would like to challenge the viewer to look back to go forward. Where did you come from? Where are you going? Spiritually, mentally, and emotionally wealthy people self-reflect. This piece is inspired by the freedom received through reflection. Stand in your truth, and freedom will find you.
“A Mirror of Everyday Life” by Ariel Dannielle
This mural tells the story of the everyday life of Black women shown through a positive lens, challenging conventional representations of Black life. Love and friendship are represented through the image of two friends talking on the phone, in their rooms, a safe space, sharing, connecting, and being themselves, unapologetically young, Black, and feminine.
The Beltline Chronicles by Robert Barsky
The BeltLine Chronicles is a 68-page poem honoring the living history of spaces along the Atlanta BeltLine. The poem draws inspiration from Lord Byron’s epic adventure poem “Don Juan,” and invokes a broad array of famous literary quests, from Homer’s “The Odyssey” and Dante the Pilgrim’s
“Divine Comedy” all the way up to Toni Morrison’s Paradise and Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte.
For the purposes of The BeltLine Chronicles, the BeltLine is an integral space, composed of eight subareas that are both autonomous and interconnected. The BeltLine Chronicles remind the reader/viewer of the many borders that we cross as we move through the BeltLine spaces and the great efforts that have been made by Ryan Gravel and the multitude of funders, visionaries, and developers who are bringing this dream to life.
It’s time to step off the trail to the right.
As you exit the unpaved trail, you’ll see this mural on your right.
Carbice Corporation is a company that specializes in advanced thermal management solutions. They've developed materials and technologies, including Carbice, that are used to efficiently dissipate heat from electronic devices, batteries, and other applications where heat management is crucial.
Their Carbice material, which is a combination of carbon and ice, is particularly effective in conducting heat away from sensitive components, helping to improve the performance and reliability of various systems. So, yes, the company Carbice Corporation and the material Carbice are closely related in their focus on thermal management.
Keep walking along the unpaved trail, under the bridge.
In May 2018, a group of community members from West End Neighborhood Development (WEND) was awarded a grant from the Department of City Planning (DCP) for public realm improvements.
The project team worked closely with DCP staff to engage the community and develop mural concepts for the neighborhood.
Enjoy the path less traveled. As you near the end of the path, you’ll notice a random house on your right…
Karate Kid fans, anyone? They film the new series, Cobra Kai, in this studio space. This is the back view of Mr. Miyagi’s house.
Homage to Adrienne McNeil Herndon
Adrienne McNeal Herndon was an accomplished actress, educator, and architect in early 20th-century America, notable for her contributions to the cultural and artistic development of African American society in Atlanta.
This mural is part of Spelman’s 2018 MLK Day of Service activities. This sprawling painting includes the likeness of Adrienne McNeil Herndon, celebrating women in leadership, the arts, education and entrepreneurship.
And on then other side of that building:
Mural by David Fratu, aka ILL.DES
The mural that was there previously – I always loved that the building’s drainage spout came out of the figure’s bellybutton.
Turn away from the abstract mural and follow the Beltline path towards the bridge on your left.
Meet me at the Krayons by Santiago Menendez-Gil
A series of 32 steel posts that have been painted to resemble a row of giant crayons for a simple and playful display at an entrance along the Atlanta BeltLine.
First displayed on the trail near Washington Park at Lena Street, the sculptures were removed for construction of the Westside Trail in 2012.
With the opening of the Westside Trail in 2017, the sculptures were re-installed near the White Street access point to the trail.
We Are All Thriving With HIV! is a mural project curated by Living Walls as part of the CDC’s national campaign, Start Talking. Stop HIV.
This mural is the result of a series of listening sessions, panel discussions and public events curated by different community arts, HIV/AIDS scholars, doctors, activists and LGBTQ+ organizations on the topic of HIV/AIDS.
The mural concept and design were created by five local queer artists of color: Ajmal Millar, Ash Walsh, John Burnett, Lisette Correa and Maite Nazario.
Here’s what that area looked like before the Beltline was paved
The STORYBOX project uses storytelling through mural arts, documentary techniques and new technologies to discover the untold stories of Atlanta’s Westside community. This project explores the idea of “HOME” as it pertains to the African-American experience in this country.
Inspired by the need to increase understanding across evolving neighborhoods, this project supports underrepresented communities in creating, maintaining, and sharing their own stories. This augmented reality mural invites viewers to explore stories often excluded or stereotypically characterized in mainstream narratives. In developing new narratives, THE STORYBOX illuminates voices that may be discarded and left unheard.
This mural is part of a series exploring emotion as expressed through song. One of the artist’s neighbors, who had been a part of that series, came into the artist’s studio and sang hymns his mother had sung to him as a child. He brought an energy into the studio that was soulful and healing, and she wanted to bring that energy out into the public.
🎶 Whoooaaa, we’re halfway there 🎶
Highball Artist by Hadley Breckenridge
The Highball Artist, railroad slang for an engineer known for running the train fast, is a minimalist mural with intense color on a large scale, covering the sides and inside of the Lucille Street bridge and tunnel. The title and design imply that the speed of the train has come out through the tunnel, spilling color down one side of the bridge and exploding out of the other. The Highball Artist is an experience about movement, perspective, scale, time, space and the simple elements of color.
Streetview photo from 2013
Turn around from the Highball Artist and hang a left here. Dash up the hill to an upper level of the Beltline. When you come out, continue the path on the right.
As you walk, you’ll encounter a cute little painted wall on the right. I don’t know much about it, but it’s nice.
Now, you’ll encounter a nice little pedestrian hell. Cross to the left, then cross the street again to get to the metal sculpture on the opposite corner of the intersection.
“Cometh The Sun” by MET artist Curtis Patterson
The sculpture was installed in 1977 and commissioned by The City of Atlanta Cultural Affairs Office. The abstract geometric sculpture is made of corten steel and concrete.
After you pass “Cometh the Sun,” you’ll come across a crosswalk to the Beltline. Don’t turn right, keep going straight.
West End Remembers, by Malaika Favorite
West End Remembers is a colorful addition to the neighborhood set against the overpass’s somber gray and the environment’s natural colors.
This mural was created based on an in-depth study of the history of the West End Area. The mural is not meant to be an extensive history of the region but a documentation of some important events and places in the neighborhood. The historical images are set according to the chronological order of historical events.
