Toasting Thursday
June 15 — The 2023 season hasn’t even begun, but Georgia fans are abuzz about the Bulldogs’ 2024 schedule, which was released yesterday and includes road games against Alabama and Texas.
⛈️ Scattered thunderstorms with a high of 82° today.
🩺 The Georgia Department of Community Health reports at least 1,581 residents are losing their health insurance during the so-called Medicaid unwinding that is now underway across the country.
🗳️ The Dunwoody City Council has approved a November referendum on a $60 million, 20-year parks improvement bond.
🦮 Brookhaven City Council will upgrade Brookhaven Park with a dog park, pavilions, stage, and playground equipment to the tune of $8 million.
🎼 The winners of the Atlanta Opera’s annual 96-Hour Opera Project have been announced.
🎓 Congratulations to the Class of 2023. We’ve rounded up a list of the valedictorians and salutatorians who were tops in their class at metro public and private schools.
⏱️ Max Park, a 21-year-old speedcuber, set a world record for the fastest time to solve a Rubik’s Cube. Watch him do it in 3.13 seconds.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
🏦 The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady yesterday, but did suggest that future rate increases are possible this year. “We’ve covered a lot of ground and the full effects of our tightening have yet to be felt,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.
📦 UPS and the Teamsters Union announced they have tentatively agreed on a sticky sticking point in their contract talks: air conditioning in the shipping giant’s famous brown trucks.
🕖 Today’s newsletter is ④ stories.
• BeltLine closed for construction
• New SCAD FASH executive director
• Immersive, personal art
AND
• Quick Bites
Have a good day,
Sammie, Collin, & Madison
🪩 Atlanta Contemporary is celebrating our 50th Anniversary on June 24 with ART PARTY – our annual fundraiser that supports daily free admission. The night will feature live musical performances, interactive installations in the galleries, delicious local food, curated cocktails, and more! Tickets are available here.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. Stretch of BeltLine Southside Trail to close for construction until 2025
🚧 A one-mile stretch of the Atlanta BeltLine Southside Trail will close until spring 2025 for paving and other construction work beginning Mon., June 19.
According to BeltLine officials, the full length of the unpaved Southside Trail between Glenwood Avenue and Boulevard – known as segments 4 and 5 – will be closed for construction.
The contractor, Reeves Young, is already in the process of staging trailers, starting erosion control, and placing construction fencing.
➡️ Learn more about the construction project here.
Switchyards Old Fourth Ward opens tomorrow!
SPONSORED BY SWITCHYARDS 
💻 To celebrate their ninth Atlanta location, Switchyards is inviting you to come out tomorrow and see their Old Fourth Ward space, located just steps away from the BeltLine in Studioplex.
There will be complimentary pizza from Glide and loads of ice-cold beer from Wild Heaven in the afternoon. Not to mention fresh Radio Roasters coffee all day long.
Drop by to say hello or come post up for the whole day. It’ll be open to Switchyards members and the general public.
And, there’s still time to grab a membership before they’re gone. Members get 24/7 access to ALL nine citywide locations: Adair Park, Buckhead, Cabbagetown, Chamblee, Decatur, Old Fourth Ward, Westside, Virginia Highland, and Downtown.
➡️ Experience Switchyards FREE for eight days, then $100/month.
2. Alex Delotch Davis named executive director of SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
👒 Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has named Alex Delotch Davis as executive director for the university’s SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta and Lacoste, France.
A SCAD alumnus with an M.A. in luxury & fashion management, Delotch Davis brings more than 15 years of experience as an arts marketer, strategist, and connector in Atlanta’s arts and cultural scene.
“I’m excited and humbled by the opportunity to be part of this diverse and innovative organization,” Delotch Davis said. “I’m energized by what is on the horizon for SCAD FASH, the museum is a treasure for the community and it is an honor to amplify the outstanding exhibitions and programming.
🎞️ Learn more about the new role here.
3. Pieces of Self: the work of artist Lucas Rocheleau
🔈 This weekend, South River Art Studio presents A Year Within / A Year Without, a solo exhibition by artist Lucas Rocheleau. The mixed-media installation includes paintings, cyanotypes, found objects, and an old camper that will feature a selection of carefully curated soundscapes.
“I like installations because I like having the viewer involved,” said Rocheleau. “I like South River specifically because I can have an installation space and then a party happening in an adjacent space where it’s not this serious.”
When visitors step foot into the tiny camper stationed atop a large square of fake grass in the South River Art Studio space, they are confronted by overlapping interactive soundscapes that surround and envelop them.
➡ Read more about Rocheleau here.
🪩 Atlanta Contemporary is celebrating our 50th Anniversary on June 24 with ART PARTY – our annual fundraiser that supports daily free admission. The night will feature live musical performances, interactive installations in the galleries, delicious local food, curated cocktails, and more! Tickets are available here.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. Quick Bites
🍻 Edgewood Avenue’s Georgia Beer Garden is closing on Sun., June 18. In an Instagram post, owners Owners Johnny Martinez and Brendan Ley said the street had changed and that “this space needs to evolve and become something else.” On Sunday, all tabs will be 20% off.
🍻 The historic 200 Peachtree building in Downtown Atlanta is getting two new tenants: SCOL Brewing Co. and Valhalla Social.
🥩 Atlanta’s “first omakase steak experience,” Prefecture Japanese Steakhouse, is set to open on June 23.
🍸 Try this new reservations-only cocktail lounge with a hidden entrance for a bit of mystery with your drinks.
😴 Snooze, an A.M. Eatery is opening a new location in Alpharetta on June 28.
🦞 The Island Lobster Food Truck (pictured) will debut at the Centennial Olympic Park Juneteenth celebrations (June 16-18).
🍖 DBA Barbecue has opened a second location near Chastain Park.
🌮 The second Butaco location, which serves L.A.-inspired street food, opened on June 13.
🐮 The new Chick-fil-A location at the corner of Ponce de Leon and Boulevard will open on June 15.
🇫🇷 Alpharetta’s Foundation Social Eatery opened Petite FSE, its Parisian-style bistro and market, on June 13.
🍆 The restaurant Full Vegan Taste has relocated to Chamblee, and will open with a ribbon-cutting on June 20.
❓ A new, still unnamed concept is expected to take over the recently-closed Dorian Gray space in Buckhead.
🍪 Georgia’s first-ever Crave Cookies is coming to Johns Creek.
🏖️ Playa Bowls expects to add to its Atlanta locations this year with three new openings.
🍺 Wild Heaven Beer is opening a third location complete with Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q onsite.
🍯 North Carolina’s Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar is coming to a development in Gainesville.
🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Movie reviews, profiles, what’s filming where, plus more. Directed by Sammie Purcell. Subscribe for free.