With the FIFA World Cup 2026 just a year away, Atlanta’s creative community is already stepping onto the global stage—through art. In a city where streetwear, storytelling, and sports naturally intersect, artists are exploring how soccer can serve as both a cultural mirror and a canvas for identity ahead of the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and leading up to next summer’s global tournament.
Take Kerri Worthen and Grace Henderson, for example. Lifelong soccer players, collaborators, and colleagues at Soccer in the Streets, the two are using their respective creative mediums—visual art and fashion—to deepen the meaning of the game for local audiences.
A recent piece by Worthen, titled Golden Stride, features painted cleats surrounded by goal netting. “The piece is informational, showing the stride of a kick,” she explained. “I was thinking about people who might be new to the game.”
Golden Stride isn’t Worthen’s only recent creation. For the kickoff of Beautiful Game Presents’s GOALZ series at The Marlay in March, she unveiled two new works—Passion Island, a layered piece using vinyl records and repurposed soccer balls, and Flourish Within, an abstract composition made of acrylic and resin.
Worthen is also among the Atlanta artists participating in the 1V1 Soccer ATL tournament and live art activation hosted by Graffiti Stadium and The Art in Soccer from June 13 to 22. Artists selected through a lottery system will be paired with soccer players, some as young as eight, to create 8×8 murals that interpret the energy or identity of each player. The public will vote on the final works, with the top artist awarded $1,500 and an all-expense-paid trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, or Nairobi, Kenya.
Meanwhile, Henderson continues to expand the visual language of soccer through fashion and installation. This spring, she led a custom kit competition and fashion show for GOALZ. Her work remixes jerseys as cultural artifacts.
“The jersey is more than just a uniform,” Henderson said. “It carries memories of big wins, losses, street games, community pride, and personal identity.”
Many jerseys in Henderson’s work come from her personal collection, gifted by friends and family, or thrifted secondhand. She sketches each layout by hand or in Procreate, carefully considering how texture, color, and cultural context can come together to form a unified story. This layered approach is central to her work, aesthetically and politically.
“My work aims to break down barriers, between high art and community art, between the gallery and the streets, and to make space for everyone’s story in the beautiful game,” Henderson said.
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One such space will be Stripes Are Earned, a three-part exhibition series opening June 16 at Gallery 85, hosted in partnership with Atlantucky Brewery. The show features hand-painted soccer balls and original artworks inspired by themes such as Street Soccer Vibes, Unity Through Sports, Legends of the Game, Local Pride, and Cultural Heritage. The series is free to the public and includes an art show opening, a FIFA tournament watch party, and a soccer jersey-themed celebration.
Worthen and Henderson are in ongoing conversations with other artists about formalizing a platform to connect soccer and the arts. For now, the work itself speaks volumes. From gallery walls to soccer fields, artists like Worthen and Henderson, as well as platforms like Graffiti Stadium and Beautiful Game Presents, are showcasing to the world what Atlanta has to offer: creativity, community, and culture rooted in the love of the game.
