The interior work
Feb. 25 — The obvious read is rarely the most interesting one.
That’s the current running through this week’s Sketchbook, which features stories looking at the interior influences driving creative work, shaping creative collections, and giving the whole thing meaning.
One gathers the POVs of Atlanta-area AAPI artists on how cultural traditions such as Lunar New Year live inside their practices — the materials, processes, and the values they return to.
The other profiles private-collection curator Kate Chesnutt Connell, who operates on the belief that one’s personal art collection should reflect who one is, versus simply what the market values.
What’s influencing your relationship with art these days?
—Sherri Daye Scott
P.S. As I was putting this week’s Sketchbook together, news broke of a potential financial scandal at the High Museum of Art, a sobering reminder that the infrastructure holding up the creative culture we love requires the same scrutiny and care we bring to the work itself.
✨ Party like it’s 1985 at Spruill Center for the Arts’ 40th Artistic Affair! On March 28, join us for 1980s fun, open bar, arcade games, costume contests, a live auction, and more. Get your tickets today for this totally tubular event! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Made to remember
🥮 For four Atlanta artists, Lunar New Year isn’t simply a celebration. It’s also cause for reflection, a source of inspiration and an opportunity to reconnect to their family’s roots.
➡️ See how the Spring Festival lives on.
Party like it’s 1985 at our 40th Artistic Affair!
SPONSORED BY SPRUILL CENTER FOR THE ARTS
✨ Dust off your cassettes and tease your hair, we’re having a FUNdraiser – so be there or be square!
Join us on March 28 as Spruill Center for the Arts kicks off the 40th year of Artistic Affair! Get ready for full-on 1980s fun, complete with an open bar, arcade games, costume contests, a live auction, and more.
🎟️ Tickets are on sale now – get yours today.
Made to order
🖼️ Curator and collection consultant Kate Chesnutt Connell has spent her career helping Atlanta collectors and artists find their place. Now she’s building studios in her backyard to prove the point.
➡️ Meet Kate and learn more about her here.
Museum COO resignation
🏛️ News of High Museum COO Brady Lum’s resignation in the face of allegations from The Woodruff Arts Center’s governing board of $600,000 in theft is sparking conversation and concern.
Art Happenings
🧾 Print Club at GSU Print Sale | 10 a.m.-4 p.m., today | GSU Arts and Humanities Lobby.
🗣️ In Conversation: Rujeko Hockley & Hank Willis Thomas | 5-7 p.m., Feb. 26 | Spelman College.
🆕 Public Notice: The 2025 U.S. International Poster Biennial Opening | Feb. 27 | MODA (Pictured)
💬 Artist Talk: Pushing Forward-Politics, Social Conflict, and the Racial Divide in the Art of Kevin Cole | 2-4 p.m., Feb. 28 | Chastain Arts Center & Gallery.
👑 Heavy is the Crown Show | 3-8 p.m., Feb. 28 | The Creamery Studios.
🚚 Thriving Together Atlanta Mobile Art Experience Pop Up | 4-7 p.m., Feb. 28 | One Contemporary Gallery.
✨ Party like it’s 1985 at Spruill Center for the Arts’ 40th Artistic Affair! On March 28, join us for 1980s fun, open bar, arcade games, costume contests, a live auction, and more. Get your tickets today for this totally tubular event! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Post of the Week
🎭 @roswellarts is helping recruit community panelists to volunteer for the @fultonarts 2026 Contracts for Services program, a chance to support local artists and organizations and to see how public arts dollars move.
✨ Party like it’s 1985 at Spruill Center for the Arts’ 40th Artistic Affair! On March 28, join us for 1980s fun, open bar, arcade games, costume contests, a live auction, and more. Get your tickets today for this totally tubular event! SPONSOR MESSAGE
🖋️ Today’s Sketchbook was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.