Atlanta Ballet
The Atlanta Ballet, founded 75 years ago by Dorothy Alexander, has become the oldest continuously run ballet company in the country. Now under the direction of John McFall the Ballet strives to find a balance between classical ballet and contemporary formats. Through the Atlanta Ballet's Center for Dance Education, the ballet has developed numerous programs for both amateur and professional dancers.
The ballet school also features lessons for both children and adults. Recently the Atlanta Ballet and the Indigo Girls teamed up for a second time to bring a unique combination of Rock n' Roll sound to fluid dance in Shed Your Skin. For their 75th season the ballet will again perform their most popular program the Nutcracker and will bring back an old favorite in October, Dracula. To learn more about the Atlanta Ballet and their upcoming season go to their website.
The Morris Museum
Located alongside the Savannah River in downtown Augusta, the Morris Museum offers a unique collection dedicated to Southern Art. Only 12 years old the Morris Museum has expanded its collection from a little under 1000 to almost 3000 pieces of art. The Museum not only houses Southern Art but also features a research facility dedicated to the study of Southern Art and Artist in the Center for the Study of Southern Art.
The Museum offers a unique look at the history of the South, told through Art. While visitors wind through the different galleries, they can experience the history of the South, beginning with Antebellum Art and continuing through Civil War Art, the Black Influence in Southern Art, Southern Impressionism and ending with the newest influence, Twentieth Century Art. To learn more about the Morris Museum vist their website.
West African Drumming
Master drummers across Georgia are filling up classes with individuals eager to learn the ancient art. Georgia contains a wealth of talent in this artistic expression with the inclusion of two local drummers, Peggy Benkeser, a professional musician with twenty years of experience and co founder of Thamyris a music ensemble based in Atlanta and Aly Camara, lead drummer for Les Merveilles d'Afrique of Mohammed Kemoko Sano which performs traditional Guinean drum and dance ballets to international audiences.
Drumming is also being used in the therapeutic treatment of children through programs such as the one at Inner Harbour headed by Tom Harris and Michael Watkins. Through their program children can play West African drumming to help them deal with the problems they face in everyday life. West African drumming may be an ancient art but it is a new beat being heard around Georgia. To read about Inner Harbour, visit their website.
Jack Leigh
Born in 1948, Jack Leigh began his work in photography after finishing his studies at the University of Georgia in 1972. From the beginning of his career, he desired to record the people, places and lifestyles of the South, his native region. In 1993 he became widely known after his haunting photograph of Silvia Shaw's Bird Girl appeared on the cover of John Berendt's best seller, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Over 56 years Jack Leigh authored five books dedicated to the images of the South such as Oystering: A Way of Life and The Land I'm Bound To.
With his death from colon cancer on May 19, Leigh left a void in the southern photography scene, but left a lasting impression that will live on in his photographs and books. His dedication to and love of photography inspired him to continue his work until his last days. To find out more about Jack Leigh or to browse some of his work visit his gallery website.
Fabulous Fox Theatre
Atlanta's Fabulous Fox Theatre, built in 1929 originally as the Yaarab Temple Shrine Mosque, was designed as the headquarters for the 5,000-member Shriner's organization. When the Theatre was designed it was a masterpiece of trompe l'oeil meaning false beams, false balconies, false tents, ornate grillwork hiding air conditioning and heating ducts insuring that every practical feature was disguised with artistic fantasy including the men's and ladies' lounges.
With a beautiful starry sky looking down on four thousand seats, the theatre has enthralled many generations of both the young and old. Because of its brilliance and everlasting presence in downtown Atlanta, the Fox Theatre has become one of the Southeast's entertainment and cultural icons. With its incredible example of Moorish and Egyptian architecture it has proven to be a lasting example of Atlanta history and architecture. To read more about the Fox or if you're interested in getting tickets to a performance go to their website.
The Alliance Theater: The Color Purple
Alice Walker's The Color Purple, published in 1982, tells the story of Celie, a Black woman in the South from the 1920's through the 1940's. In the course of her story, Celie meets a series of other Black women who shape her life but Celie is the center of this community of women, the one who knows how to survive.
This unique and award winning novel is now the basis for the Alliance Theatre's newest musical. The novel is given a musical touch with a mixture of Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Swing, Rural Roots and African music combined with dance styles that range from the Charleston to the Lindy Hop. The Color Purple had its world premiere in Atlanta on September 9, and will eventually make the trip up to Broadway. To buy tickets or find out what else is going on at the Alliance Theatre visit their website.
Funky Chicken Arts Project
Just west of Dahlonega, Georgia in Lumpkin County there is a "funky" project that started as a chicken coup and progressed into an art gallery and outdoor sculpture garden. The gallery opened in 1995 and co-owned and operated by artists Christina White and James Sargous is in stark contrast to most art gallery around the world. Featured on Oprah Winfrey's "Oprah Goes On-Line," the Funky Chicken Art Project displays a wide variety of art mediums including jewelry, oil and acrylic paintings, fiber art, sculptures in metal, stone, and cement and mosaic art.
To go along with the name, the Funky Chicken Art Project also includes a collection of chickens and pheasants that make their home among the art. With live chickens and beautiful art it promises to be a unique gallery with a little style and a lot of funk. To learn more about the Project visit their website.
Educators: Atlanta Ballet
Margo Sappington
(Choreographer, Shed Your Skin)
Texas born Margo Sappington joined the Joffrey Ballet, at the invitation of Robert Joffery, where she danced an extensive repertoire of works. Transitioning from the ballet world, Margo danced on Broadway in Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity, and assisted and appeared in the award-winning Broadway musical, Promises, Promises, choreographed by Michael Bennett. In 1969 she choreographed the off-Broadway musical Oh! Calcutta! In 1971 she choreographed her first ballet Weewis, for the Joffrey Ballet which was a section of the company's highly acclaimed evening-length work, Billboards, danced to a score by rock musician Prince. Her works have been danced by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Carolina Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, the Houston Ballet, the Harkness Ballet, the Milwaukee Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, Aterballetto (Italy), Ballet du Capitole (France, Ballet du Nord (France, Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas, Netherlands Dans Theater, and Ballet Jazz de Montreal. Since 1986, Ms. Sappington has formed a close artistic association with Hubbard Street Dance in Chicago where she has created Cobras in the Moonlight, Step out of Love, And Now This, Forging Ground, and One Summer Night. Margo has also choreographed several Broadway musicals including Doonesbury and revivals of Where's Charley? with Raul Julia, and Pal Joey. She recently choreographed a Latin version of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Song and Dance for the Coconut Grove Playhouse. Margo has also choreographed for opera productions including Aida, Samson and Delilah, and La Gioconda for the San Francisco Opera.
The Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Saliers)
(Music, Shed Your Skin)
Long before Joan Osborne, Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair or Courtney Love ever splashed across the American musical landscape, the Indigo Girls were singing and guitar-slinging their way into the hearts and minds of anyone willing to lend and ear to two of the hardest-working women in the music business. Stripped-down, folkie rock was not exactly prime radio fodder at the end of the eighties, but somehow the Amy Ray and Emily Saliers combination of thoughtful, semi-political topics, accessible melodies, and feminist posturing caught on, both with the college-radio crowd and a more mainstream audience. Add in the duo's indefatigable approach to touring, and you get a long-lasting formula for success. By 1981, Emily and Amy had completed their first basement tape (literally - it was recorded in Amy's basement) called Tuesday's children, a collection of cover songs augmented with two original tunes. Amy continued her songwriting and, the following year, she recorded a solo tape of her own material called Color Me Gray. After high school, Emily became an English major at Tulane University and the next year, Amy headed off to Nashville to study English and religion at Vanderbilt. But being away from home didn't sit too well either, and by 1984 both were back in Atlanta as students at Emory University. In 1985, again performing together on a regular basis, they decided to go by the name Indigo Girls. In one of the time-honored traditions of rock, the name held no real significance - Amy chose "indigo" from the dictionary because the word sounded cool. The first official release from the Indigo Girls was the independent seven-inch single "Crazy Game," and in 1986 they followed up with the six-track EP engineered by local singer-songwriter Kristen Hall. In 1987, Emily and Amy put out their full-length debut, Strange Fire, and while it didn't generate a great deal of interest, its release was impeccably timed. Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega had just broken through on radio and on the charts, and suddenly, the growing field of women singer-songwriters moved into the mainstream. Epic Records saw potential in the Indigo Girls and the label signed the duo in 1998. Their eponymous debut album on the label, released in early 1989, established the duo as a force on the national scene. They were initially bolstered by the instant cachet of a guest appearance by REM's Michael Stipe, as well as having Irish rockers Hothouse Flowers as their backing band for several tracks. But it was the radio success of "Closer to Fine" that ultimately broke the album, and six months after its release, Indigo Girls went gold. By the spring, the Girls had been nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy and took home the award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. The Indigo Girls' achievements are impressive. Over the course of the last ten years, they have sold over seven million albums worldwide-including one double platinum disc, three platinum and four gold - and earned six Grammy nominations. But more impressive than the industry accolades and sales figures has been the way these two voices can consistently reach out in the darkness and make a bunch of strangers feel at home, understood, inspired.
The Indigo Girls Electrify Atlanta Ballet's Season
Atlanta Ballet opened its 2001-2002 season with an exclusive, world premiere collaboration between folksy blues group The Indigo Girls and our very own Atlanta Ballet. The work was choreographed by Margo Sappington, whose groundbreaking work Billboards, set to Prince's music, played to standing room only crowds in 1993 when it premiered by the Joffrey Ballet. The Indigo Girls perform live on stage with the Atlanta Ballet during the run at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. A project that has been in the works for several years, The Indigo Girls Project is a unique evening of music and dance. For the first time ever, the harmonic strains of Indigo Girls songs like Least Complicated, Cara Mia, and Touch Me Fall will intertwine with the soft swooshes of tutus onstage. John McFall, Artistic Director, states that "it is an honor to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime collaboration with The Indigo Girls and Margo Sappington." The Indigo Girls, composed of talented songwriter-singers Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, met in Decatur, Georgia when they were attending Laurel Ridge Elementary School. The pair released their first official single in 1986, and put out their full-length debut in 1987. Over the course of the last ten years, they have sold over seven million albums worldwide-including one double platinum disc, three platinum and four gold-and earned six Grammy nominations. In addition to their impressive successes in the music industry, The Indigo Girls are involved in the local Atlanta community. Having benefited from the help of other musicians in the Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, music scenes, Amy Ray decided to use her own good fortune to give something back to up-and-coming local musicians. In 1990, she founded Daemon Records, an independent label focusing on Atlanta-area bands that continues to be an important outlet for the scene.
Thank you to The Atlanta Ballet for information on the Indigo Girls.
For information on the The Indigo Girls:
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Educators: Morris Museum
For information on The Morris Museum of Art:
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Great Museums episode titles and descriptions
New Georgia Encyclopedia
For information Museums and Galleries in Georgia:
Georgia Museums, Art Galleries and Art Centers
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Georgia Museums on the Web
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Educators: West African Drumming
Peggy Benkeser
Peggy Benkeser is a teaching artist with twenty years experience in teaching, arts administration and performance. As a Georgia Council for the Arts approved Artist-in-Residence and Young Audiences of Atlanta Roster Artist, Ms. Benkeser conducts residencies, master classes and performances at schools throughout the state of Georgia.
Ms. Benkeser has extensive performance and recording experience as a soloist and member of chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras. Her most recent CD, "Music for Hammers and Sticks", was released on Innova records in February 2005. Ms. Benkeser has taught at Georgia State University, Clayton College and State University and Emory University. From 1987 - 200, she was the co-founder and artistic director of Thamyris, New Music Group. Under Peggy's guidance, Thamyris received awards for adventurous programming from Meet the Composer/Chamber Music America and received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, American Composer's Forum, Meet the Composer, the Copeland Fund for New Music, and numerous local and state funding agencies.
Peggy currently teaches music for children ages two years through fifth grade at the Cliff Valley School in Atlanta and maintains a private teaching studio where she works with students of all ages and abilities.
Speech Rhythms and Music: Let the Drums do the Talking!
The Art of Teaching Poly-Rhythms Using Language:
A Five Lesson Music and Language Arts Unit for upper Elementary through High School
For Information on African Music and Drums:
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Virtual drum museum
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Educators: The Fabulous Fox
The Fabulous Fox Project launched in December 2004 with the premiere of two GPB documentaries about the history of the Fox Theatre: The Fabulous Fox and This Old Movie Palace. In addition to the documentary programs, the Fox Project includes an extensive website, which offers visitors a number of ways to learn more about the Fox Theatre, including a virtual tour, a behind-the-scenes look at the Atlanta Ballet, celebrity accounts of their experiences at the Fox, and an examination of the cultural history and significance of the theater.
In order to enhance the educational value of The Fabulous Fox website to teachers and learners across the state, GPB's Education staff developed an instructional unit focusing on architectural elements found in the Fox's interior and exterior spaces. Using art, history, mathematics, language art and social studies, students may explore the cultural and historic themes found throughout the structure's decorative arts. The unit also offers educators, students, and parents a range of projects that will allow them to engage in drawing, ceramics, art criticism and aesthetics.
Art Lessons:
Click here to view the entire Fabulous Fox Project.
Educators: The Color Purple
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Alliance Theatre
Almost thirty years ago, Vincent Anthony opened the doors to Atlanta’s own Center for Puppetry Arts. Cutting the ribbon that day was personal friend and Center supporter Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets and world renowned for his puppetry genius. Over the next ten years Henson would visit the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts and donate his time, talents and name to the organization. After his death in 1990, Henson’s family continued to support the Center, which is the largest of its kind in the United States. Recognizing the importance of the Center’s mission to entertain and enlighten audiences, nurture the world community of artists, expand the puppetry art form, and explore the past, present, and future of puppetry, Henson family members have donated their personal collection of Muppet memorabilia to the Center.
Some people are, with apologies to Shakespeare, “snappers-up of unconsidered trifles”. Sharpsburg native, Herb Bridges, fits that description perfectly. A lifelong fan of movie memorabilia, Bridges is best-known for his Gone With The Wind collection – at one time the world’s largest. So, when Bridges heard about a mysterious stash of movie posters that had surfaced in a storage unit in Carrollton, he just had to explore them. They proved to have a connection to his past and to be a glimpse into a little-known aspect of movie history.
The Savannah Music Festival has grown to be world-class over the last 5 years, with nearly 100 concerts spread throughout the city over 17 days in late March and early April. This year the Charles H. Morris Center was inaugurated in a site dating from 1733 and one of the nation’s top new bluegrass groups was chosen to launch the venue. The Steep Canyon Rangers are a creative bunch of young guys who write their own music but are steeped in the traditions of the past.
Brightly displayed on the side of a building in downtown Jonesboro, Georgia is a set of mural paintings by artist Shannon Lake. The paintings depict stories of Jonesboro in the 1940’s & 50’s and are inspired by the novel “Separate Fountains” by Patti Wilson Byars. The murals can be seen at the Arts Clayton Galley in Jonesboro on South Main Street.
In the winter of 1981, Linda Anderson’s spirits were at rock bottom. Her daughter, B.J., had suffered a stroke and needed Anderson’s constant care. But, as she sat by B.J.’s bed, Anderson was filled with a sense of hope and her life changed forever. The next morning, Anderson discovered she had a talent to paint, to tell stories from her childhood in colorful resonant images and to connect with a wide audience of art lovers. From moonshine stills to home childbirth, Anderson’s memory paintings depict a North Georgia that has now disappeared.
The Atlanta Opera launched its 2007-2008 season with a bold move into the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Just as bold was the decision to feature a modern opera based on Cold Sassy Tree, a novel about life in rural Georgia at the turn of the 20th century.
The motto of the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art is "Knowledge Through Beauty," and over the years this small but impassioned Atlanta museum has featured artworks of the highest quality from around the world.
The Telfair Museum of Art traces its history from 1886 when the Telfair family home opened to the public as an art museum and school. Now comprised of the original building, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, a National Historic Landmark building, and the Owens-Thomas House, also a National Historic Landmark, the Telfair is currently constructing a third building in downtown Savannah.
The Telfair's permanent collection includes impressive examples of American Impressionism, with major paintings by Childe Hassam, Frederick Frieseke and Gari Melchers, to name a few. The Telfair also boasts North America's largest public collection of visual art by Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran, best known as author of The Prophet. The Telfair's sculpture collection is complemented by the long-term loan of Sylvia Shaw Judson's Bird Girl, known for its appearance on the cover of the best-selling book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. To learn more about what the Telfair has to offer or to find out their latest exhibits, visit their 
The Mark of the Potter, Georgia's oldest craft gallery, is located in the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains and occupies one of three mills that have inhabited the site since the time of the Cherokee Indians. For over 30 years, the Mark of the Potter has provided a selection of handmade crafts in wood, metal, hand blown glass and pottery from over 25 artists.
Betty Foy Sanders is a native of Bulloch County, an accomplished artist and a long-time supporter of the fine arts programs throughout the state. She is the subject of a book entitled The Artist Within: The Legacy of Betty Foy Sanders, Georgia's 74th First Lady. Now 77, Sanders' art reflects her "deep devotion to Georgia and its rich history and remarkable beauty."
Peachtree Battle the longest running theatrical production in Atlantan history. A locally written satiric play about Atlanta-Buckhead blue bloods has dozens of local references include WSB-TV personality Monica Kaufman, Gov. Sonny Perdue, caterer Tony Conway and Delta Air Lines. The play is a family farce that centers on the Habersham upper-crust matriarch who struggles with her son marrying a Hooters girl. Some 55, 000 people have seen the play since it opened in the fall of 2001 and performances are routinely sold out weeks in advance. For more information on Peachtree Battle, visit the Peachtree Playhouse 
When President George Bush and seven of the world's most powerful leaders meet for a three-day conference in Sea Island. Some of their most important discussions will be held at a table created by obstetrician and amateur woodworker Carl Dohn of Brunswick. Dr. Dohn created the summit table of antique heart pine, cut from huge beams collected by Sea Island Company Chairman & CEO Bill Jones III.
Located in the heart of Atlanta, the Atlanta Botanical Garden for 75 years has fostered appreciation, understanding and stewardship of plants and nature. The Botanical Garden is a living museum featuring exhibits and cultural events such as Art in the Garden, Fuqua Conservatory, Children's Gardens, Fuqua Orchid Center and Concerts in the Garden.
Originally founded by Henry Sopkin as a youth orchestra in 1945, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has become a cornerstone in artistic development throughout the Southeast. Winner of over 20 Grammy Awards, the ASO is comprised of a 95-player instrumental section and a 200-member chorus. Its leaders have included the late Robert Shaw and Yoel Levi, who is currently Director Emeritus. Now under the direction of Robert Spano, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra continues to grow and excel.
In 1934, a prizefighter named Charlie "Red" Herren opened what would become an Atlanta landmark: Herren's Restaurant. Known as "Atlanta's Place to Meet," the Lucky Street hotspot changed hands in the 1940s, coming under the ownership of the Negri family. Its fame grew in 1962 as it became the first restaurant in downtown Atlanta to voluntarily desegregate. But the city changed and the restaurant closed, standing empty until two leaders of a local theatre company had an idea.
For centuries, chefs around the world have strived to create tasty and beautiful dishes that please both the palate and the eye. Both professional chefs and culinary arts students still work toward that goal today. Chef Bruno Menard of the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead believes strongly in the artistic qualities of food. Coming from a long line of pastry chefs, Menard started his career as an apprentice at Le Domaine d'Orvault at the age of 16. He later moved to Japan to continue his culinary career and even appeared on "The Iron Chef," the Japanese television show with a worldwide audience. Menard was appointed head Chef of the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead in 2001.
Georgia Southwestern University, known for its connection to President Jimmy Carter as the first University he attended, has an even bigger accomplishment, a glassblowing studio. Students attending the state university in Americus, Georgia can get a bachelor's degree in the delicate art.
Founded in 1993, the Ballet Mexicano de Lupita Sosa performs traditional Mexican dance, often referred to as ballet folklorico. Although different in appearance from classical western European ballet, the dance steps require the same level of skill, technique and practice. While the dancing appears casual and spontaneous, its moves demand years of training and practice.
Colquitt, Georgia - home of "Swamp Gravy," the official Georgia Folk Life play - is now also officially Georgia's first Mural City, thanks to a proclamation by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. The 10 murals that spread across downtown began as a way for the city to encourage the arts in the community. The first mural – by Henry Gorham of McRae – tells the story of a Saturday Morning in Colquitt.
Its roots are in mythology and magic. The ability to bend, shape and create beauty from cold, hard metals has fascinated mankind for over 6000 years. Ancient civilizations held metal artisans in high esteem, if not reverence. Greeks and Romans worshipped gods who crafted at the anvil. The billows of the forge breathe life into the fire and the fire coaxes the beauty of the metal into a work of craftsmanship. The magnificence is elemental
the power captivating. During America's first century, blacksmithing was appreciated more for its function than form. Blacksmiths shoed horses, made plow blades and kept farm equipment running. With the advent of the industrial revolution, the ensuing mechanization and urbanization of America's workforce resulted in the decline of metalsmithing on such a large scale. During the 1970s, blacksmithing began to experience resurgence as an art form. Young artists were exposed to the craft at institutions of higher learning and a whole new generation of metal artisans was born.
Shadow puppets, marionettes, sock puppets and many other versatile characters have enthralled audiences throughout the rich history of puppetry. Whether they're made of wood, fabric or paper, puppets capture the imagination, and The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta offers visitors an opportunity to learn more about the art and enjoy puppet shows from all over the world. The Center for Puppetry Arts is the largest organization in America dedicated entirely to the art of puppet theater. The organization also houses a puppet museum that presents the history of puppetry in various cultures and illustrates the impact of the art form as a tool for teaching, healing and communication. The collection boasts over one thousand puppets and posters of historical and cultural significance.
After the colonies declared their independence from England, a style of decoration emerged in the new nation of America. From 1780 to 1820, furniture that mimicked the English styles of the time became popular in the United States. The colors of the Federalist style were very light in motif and adorned with symbols of a budding nation: stars, eagles, shields, flags and cornucopias were common. When the State of Georgia decided to build a permanent residence for its Chief Executive over 140 years later, a 70-member fine arts committee chose to decorate and furnish the Mansion in the Federalist style.
Savannah College of Art and Design opened in Savannah, Georgia in 1978 with just a few dozen students. Today SCAD has an enrollment of 7,000 and a mission to prepare students for careers in the visual and performing arts, design, the building arts, and the history of art and architecture. Along with helping students prepare for successful careers in the arts, the college also emphasizes learning through individual attention in a supportive environment. Providing an arts education in a unique environment is a hallmark of the Savannah College of Art and Design; SCAD purchases rundown historic buildings around Savannah and restores them, creating classroom buildings and historical significance. Another unique atmosphere SCAD offers is its campus in the south of France. The Lacoste campus is set in a medieval town with a population of 300 people, and it provides the opportunity for students to immerse themselves in a culture very different from their own.
Swamp Gravy, Georgia's official folk life play, entertains audiences daily in the small town of Colquitt, Georgia. Named after a regional culinary specialty, the play blends comedy, drama and music into a different story each year. Running for three weeks in the fall and spring, Swamp Gravy combines stories from local residents with musical numbers and show-stopping performances. Eighty volunteer performers, who range in age from four to 80, act out happenings in Colquitt's history for tourists coming to enjoy the show.
Zelda Grant is a self-taught fabric artist from Atlanta, Georgia with a degree in psychology and a background in art therapy. At an early age, she discovered a love of sewing that blossomed into an expression of art. After spending time in a series of unfulfilling jobs, she became a full-time artist in 1989. She is the owner of Bag Lady & Company, a source for one-of-a-kind cultural arts and artifacts.
Pearl Cleage, grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her father was a church pastor who was heavily involved in the Civil Rights movement. After graduating high school, Cleage attended Howard University and majored in playwriting and dramatic literature. Later she moved to Atlanta and enrolled at Spelman College and graduated with a bachelor's degree in drama. After college she wrote 12 plays and 4 of the plays were produced by the Alliance Theatre. In 1997, she published her first novel What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day. The book became a New York Times best seller and was later added to the Oprah Book List.
Albany, Georgia, founded in 1831 is a southern city rich in history. Located next to the Flint River, Albany was originally inhabited by the Creek Indians. When the Creeks were forced to move, Albany became a cotton producing city utilizing the railroad because the river was too shallow for steam boats to navigate. 
Frozen blocks of ice are transformed into magnificent works of art when Atlanta based Ice Magic gets a hold of it. Ice Sculptures, popular at parties or banquets, has its roots in art. Ice sculpting is a temporary art form carved out of three hundred pounds of solid ice. It has a long history in the Eastern world but is relatively new to the Western World. In 1934, Fairbanks, Alaska started their annual winter carnival that was the beginning of competitive ice carving in the West and it was recently added to the Winter Olympics as a cultural competition.
The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum came about after a 1983 exhibit Jews and Georgians: A Meeting of Cultures 1733-1983, created a need for a space dedicated to the interpretation and preservation of the Jewish experience. The Museum became a permanent resident of Spring Street in downtown Atlanta in 1992. Its two permanent collections are Creating Community: The Jews of Atlanta from 1845 to The Present and Absence of Humanity: The Holocaust Years. Along with its two permanent collections the Breman Museum also houses the Ida Pearl and Joseph Cuba Community Archives and Genealogy Center, the Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education Center, the Discovery Center for kids, and a Library housing archival and genealogical research for both scholars and students.
Recognizable by its hard driving and powerful sound, bluegrass music uses traditional acoustic instruments and features highly distinctive vocal harmonies that entertain the masses. Bill Monroe, considered the father of bluegrass, brought this new sound to the south in the late 1930's and in 1946 Earl Scruggs completed the sound with his three finger picking style on the banjo. Modeled after Bill Monroe's band instruments, Bluegrass bands usually includes the banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and bass fiddle.
Set in the South's premier city, the Savannah Music Festival captures audiences' imaginations by "presenting a world-class celebration of the musical arts by creating timeless and adventurous productions that stimulate arts education, foster economic growth, and unite artists and audiences in Georgia's first city." The annual event began in 1988 as the Savannah Onstage International Arts Festival, when a group of community leaders sought to enhance cultural tourism. In 1994, the American Traditions Competition was first held at the Festival. The competition is a weeklong series of vocal performances that displays the myriad of musical genres that "encompass American characteristics of excellence and artistic integrity."
In 1976, Jimmy Carter became the first and only Georgia native to date to be elected as U.S. president. Born in Plains, Georgia, Carter served in the United States Navy, was elected to two terms in the Senate and was Governor of Georgia. In the years since his presidential term ended, Carter has continued to serve the nation as a peace ambassador, winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. 
At 23, Sunny Taylor is a veteran in the painting community, holding her first exhibit at the age of 13. Taylor's large-scale portraits capture the essence of real life people with real life struggles.
Atlanta-based animation team Matt and Mike Chapman have made a career out of making people laugh. After graduating from Florida State University and the University of Georgia respectively, the brothers played around with a new type of computer animation known as FLASH. In the beginning, their website was mainly for the enjoyment of family and friends.
The Harrower Workshop, better known as Opera 101, offers a unique and all- encompassing experience to its students. Based at Atlanta's Georgia State University, the workshop teaches aspiring opera singers everything from applying stage makeup to the art of sword fighting.
Founded in 1905 by the Atlanta Art Association, the High Museum quickly grew into an Atlanta landmark. Originally located in a mansion on Peachtree Street, the High moved next door into a brick building with climate control to better preserve the priceless pieces of art. With over 11,000 pieces of art, the High Museum is ever expanding. Spurred by the tragic death of 122 art patrons from Atlanta in a plane crash in 1962, as documented in Georgia Public Broadcasting's 
Art from the Heart, portraits of Georgia's fallen soldiers
Over 100 soldiers from Georgia have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the number keeps climbing. The families of these soldiers are also casualties of war, and in 2005 a group of Atlanta artists decided to help in the best way they knew how – through their art. Portrait painters Lisa Gleim, Leah Hopkins Henry and Geri Zaki are the founders of the project which became known as “Art from the Heart.” Enlisting the aid of dozens of other artists, they formed an organization called the Atlanta Fine Arts League, which has donated hundreds of hours to paint the portraits of Georgia’s fallen soldiers.
Soprano Leah Partridge has received consistent praise for her virtuosic technique and dramatic insight. She has made some of the great bel canto roles her own, and her career already includes many performances of the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, Violetta in La Traviata, and Gilda in Rigoletto.
Stories collected from seven counties in the northeast Georgia mountains make up the plot, action and excitement of Headwaters. Co-written by nationally recognized folk play author Jo Carson and Sautee Nacoochee native Jerry Grillo, Headwaters employs the talents of 30 volunteers from around the area. The stories focus on the lives and trials of people in northeast Georgia. Stories ranging from those telling of local communities coming together in times of need to picnics interrupted by bears highlight life in the mountains. Under the guidance of director Lisa Mount, Headwaters sings, dances and laughs its way into State of the Arts.
The Ancient Greeks had a version powered by water. They are described in many ways, from the “King of Instruments” to “musical 747s”. And we often hear one without seeing it or its player. They are pipe organs! In recent years, metro Atlanta has seen a renaissance in pipe organ music as churches and concert halls have invested in expensive new instruments. Together with some stellar older pipe organs, they are drawing audiences back to the artform. Pipe organs are complex machines, gorgeous to see, glorious to hear and, as we learn from some local experts, devilishly difficult to play.
He has been called a spellbinder, a national treasure and the man who plays like a gypsy. No matter what the label, music is the language that Robert McDuffie speaks. State of the Arts spends time with internationally renowned concert violinist Robert McDuffie, who was born in Macon and returns to play in Georgia whenever he can.
The City of Savannah contains the nation's largest historic preservation district. Its Telfair Museum of Art is the oldest in the Southeast, and the museum's two original buildings – the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Owens-Thomas House – are Savannah landmarks dating from the early 19th century.
The Lovell Sisters feature tight vocal harmonies with an innovative fusion of folk, country, and contemporary acoustic music. With 4.1 million tuning in, they won NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor” National Talent Competition in February 2005.
If you're visually impaired but creative, how would you choose to express yourself? Maybe music, maybe sculpture – but photography? This is the story of a remarkable man, Oraien Catledge, who devoted more than twenty years to documenting the people of Cabbagetown, a dying Atlanta mill town.
For some, quilts suggest family and comfort. To others, their visual imagery is considered a folk art form. Our story about quilts is almost as old as the history of America and stitched with mystery and controversy.
The Olgethorpe University Museum of Art in Atlanta has long specialized in exhibiting art from around the world. So when China prevented Tibet from participating in Atlanta's 1996 Olympic Games, the Dalai Lama sent his private art collection to Oglethorpe instead, for a groundbreaking exhibit called The Mystical Arts of Tibet.
How did theater director Kenny Leon go from role-playing with the homeless to directing award-winning shows on Broadway? State of the Arts looks at the extraordinary career of Kenny Leon, who began as an actor and then found his true calling when he became artistic director of Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in 1990. Over the next eleven years he would direct ground-breaking plays, including Ms. Evers' Boys by David Feldshuh, and master-works by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. Passionate about the ideals of diversity, cultural inclusion, and the preservation of black theatrical classics, Leon founded the True Colors Theatre Company in 2001, which has a dual base in Washington, DC and Atlanta.
Sometimes a big hit early in a musician's career can be a hard act to follow. Singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins ran this risk after his 1998 international hit "Lullaby." But life after "Lullaby" has been anything but downhill.
The Hambidge Center for the Arts and Sciences was founded in 1934 by Brunswick native Mary Hambidge. A free spirit, early feminist and fabric designer of genius, Hambidge achieved international fame for her unique creations beginning in the Depression years and lasting until her death in the 1970s. Mary Hambidge's legacy would be the Hambidge Center, a 600-acre artist community located in the mountains of northeast Georgia's Rabun County.
One of the nation's greatest poets has recently joined the faculty at Emory University in Atlanta. Born in Nebraska and educated at top Ivy League schools, Kevin Young is a poet who finds meaning in the bittersweet history of Black America and inspiration in the essence of its spoken language.
Veteran arts patron Marianne Lambert has been described as a cornerstone of Georgia's contemporary art scene. Through the force of her enthusiasm and passion for art, she has helped to launch the careers of dozens of Georgia artists.
George Skaroulis began playing the piano at the age of five without formal training in either music theory or notation. He showed a fascination for music as he sat on the piano bench next to his mother while she played classical pieces and would often improvise and play along. Recognizing his interest and natural talent, his parents encouraged piano lessons. In five weeks, the lessons were over. The teacher could only be fooled for a short while and soon realized "little George" was playing the lessons by ear.
Louvre Atlanta, the ground-breaking exhibition of great artworks from the Paris museum, opens mid-October at the High Museum in Atlanta.