Eric Barnes has spent the better part of a decade building toward this moment. As founder of the Atlanta Music, Arts, and Culture Foundation (AMAAC), Barnes now launches what might be the most ambitious public art initiative this city has seen, timed – not coincidentally – to Atlanta’s biggest summer on the international stage as the 2026 FIFA World Cup arrives.
I’M SO ATL makes one thing clear from the start: this is not a festival. It’s bigger than that. It’s a three-phase series of large-scale art installations by Atlanta artists, rotating throughout more than 400 area parks this summer, in partnership with the City of Atlanta Parks and Recreation. The campaign kicks off at Piedmont Park, Shirley Clarke-Franklin Park, Cleopas R. Johnson Park, and Grant Park. Activations in smaller neighborhood parks and surrounding counties follow.
There is a festival involved, though. The campaign culminates with the free ARTlanta Festival of Culture at Piedmont Park, Aug. 7–9.
Art where we live
Rather than asking Atlantans to seek out art in a gallery or a ticketed venue, Barnes and AMAAC are bringing it directly into the parks, on the sidewalks, and into storefronts. ” … truly unifying the city with homegrown beauty,” as Barnes describes it.
That philosophy traces back to AMAAC’s origins. Barnes founded it as a mechanism to provide access to cultural experiences for Atlanta creatives. Originally launched in 2017 as the Hand Over Fist Foundation, a 501(c)(3), AMAAC’s goal has always been, in Barnes’s words, to “unlock the gates that keep too many brilliant creatives from fulfilling their dreams.”
Over nearly a decade, it’s evolved into a platform for artists, cultural organizers, and entrepreneurs to navigate permitting, marketing, branding, and development. The I’M SO ATL campaign represents that work at its largest scale yet.
1,000 artists, one city
I’M SO ATL aims to bring together 1,000 artists across varying genres, disciplines, and backgrounds. Artists can submit work for consideration through July 31.
“Our goal is to give as many artists as possible a platform while encouraging commerce through it — whether for T-shirts, prints, mugs, etc.,” Barnes said. “Funding and commerce help these artists more than we realize.”
The ARTlanta Festival of Culture serves as the campaign’s flagship event. Its three days event at Piedmont Park promises live music, DJ sets, ensemble performances, and real-time beat-making alongside film/TV screenings, murals, and graphic, photography and painting exhibits.
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Partners in the I’M SO ATL campaign include The Trap Museum, Atlanta Indie Market, The Center Atlanta, Rolling Out magazine, and The Hype Magazine, among others. For Barnes, those partners represent Atlanta’s broader definition of creativity. “Being creative isn’t just about putting brush to canvas,” he said. “A creative is someone who sees what is and imagines what isn’t.”
The timing of I’M SO ATL’s Summer 2026 launch reflects both a moment and a long-term vision. “Although introduced as a uniform campaign this year, this has been our work for almost a decade,” Barnes said. “What you are seeing now is the tip of the iceberg.”
Beyond August, Barnes envisions I’M SO ATL as a unifying thread for Atlanta’s many creative communities, one that holds space for transplants and natives alike. “Whether you took a Delta flight here or rode MARTA to school,” he said, “we are all SO ATL.”
Artists of all ages and disciplines can apply at ImSoATL.org. Follow the I’M SO ATL campaign on Instagram at @im.so.atl.
