Other kinds of art
Wednesday, April 15 — There is a version of art that waits for you in white-walled rooms. And then there is the other kind.
Isamu Noguchi spent his career making the other kind. Coffee tables and floor lamps in living rooms. Playgrounds kids played on without knowing they were inside a sculpture. Art, Noguchi believed, belongs where people already are. Our look at “Isamu Noguchi: ‘I am not a designer,'” – the High Museum’s retrospective of almost 200 pieces of his work on display through Aug. 2 –showcases the mind of a man who approached every assignment as an artist.
illumine pushes that belief further. For two weekends in April, Historic Oakland Foundation opens the gates of Oakland Cemetery and invites Atlanta inside to move through an art exhibition installed among the magnolias and mausoleums. Our preview explores how illumine’s curators built around a simple conviction: art belongs in the full life of a city, not just the expected parts.
When was the last time you met art somewhere unexpected?
—Sherri Daye Scott
The artist who named himself
🪨 Isamu Noguchi insisted he was not a designer. A new exhibition at the High Museum featuring the breadth and depth of Noguchi’s work, from midcentury furniture to an iconic Atlanta playground, makes the case that he was right.
➡️ See how Noguchi made art accessible.
Posters in Action at MODA
SPONSORED BY MUSEUM OF DESIGN ATLANTA
🪧 Posters show up everywhere – streets, classrooms, protests, theaters – because some ideas demand to be seen.
Public Notice: The 2025 U.S. International Poster Biennial, on view at MODA, presents work selected from 11,800 submissions across 93 countries. Social, cultural, environmental, animated – these posters reveal how design shapes public life at moments of urgency and pride.
→ Open Wednesday through Sunday, 12-7 p.m. Closes May 22. Come see what’s on the wall.
Oakland Cemetery as a canvas
💡Ten artists. Two weekends. One of Atlanta’s oldest and most beautiful public spaces, lit from within. illumine 2026 opens Thurs., April 16, at Historic Oakland Cemetery in Grant Park, with new partnerships with the High Museum, the Neon Company, and Downtown Atlanta Inc.
➡️ Learn more about illumine 2026.
Art Happenings
🌱 Stephanie Dowda DeMer: Tell Us of the World Closing Reception | 5-7 p.m., today | Emory Visual Arts Gallery.
✂️ GT Arts Mixed Media Collage Workshop | 2-4 p.m., April 16 | Ferst Center for the Arts.
👗 Dior Decoded: Curator in Conversation | 2:30 p.m., April 17 | SCAD FASH. (Pictured)
🌸 Spring Alive: A Chromatic Study in Orange and Pink | 5:30-7:30 p.m., April 18 | The Scene Art Gallery.
Post of the Week
🎨 @blackboyartshow spotlights six Atlanta-based artists to watch. The show brings 100+ creatives to the Georgia International Convention Center this Sunday, starting at 3 p.m.
🖋️ Today’s Sketchbook was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
