Glass mosaic artwork entitled “Coming Together,” was unveiled on June 4 – a new public art installation designed to reflect Brookhaven’s diversity, growth, and sense of community.
Silver lines stretch across the 11′-by-22′ mural that rises almost two stories through the center of Brookhaven City Centre, connecting a series of blue spheres through a patchwork of colorful geometric shapes spanning multiple stories.
City leaders sought a mural that would represent the city while creating a welcoming space for residents and visitors, according to Brookhaven Council Member Madeleine Simmons.
From the beginning of the City Centre project, city officials envisioned incorporating public art throughout the building, said Aronda Smith, Brookhaven’s community development assistant director.
According to Brookhaven officials, the overall cost for the mural was $30,000 and was funded by a percentage of annual permit and development revenues dedicated to public art.
The artist’s vision
As construction progressed, the city issued a request for proposals from artists. Armando Chacón’s design was selected because it reflected themes of community connection while incorporating elements of Brookhaven’s natural spaces.
Chacón is a Guatemalan-born American artist and muralist whose work blends surrealism, abstraction, and impressionism through an emotional and experiential lens, according to a release from the city.
“His work has been exhibited throughout the Southeast at institutions including the Governor’s Office at the Georgia State Capitol, the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, and the Alpharetta Arts Center, and featured in publications such as Voyage ATL and Studio Visit Magazine,” the release said. “Chacón is also an award-winning muralist whose public art projects emphasize community, transformation, and storytelling.”
“It spoke to the connectivity of bringing the community together,” Smith said. “It brought together the concepts of gathering and natural spaces.”
The mural’s vibrant colors and sense of movement also reflect the character of Brookhaven, Smith said.
For Chacón, the inspiration came from exploring the city itself.
“This piece got inspired by me driving around Brookhaven and looking at the trees, looking at the streets and how they intertwine with the community,” Chacón said.
The mural explained
The finished mural rises through the center of the building, transitioning from earth tones and greens near the bottom to brighter blues, reds and yellows higher up the wall. Metallic silver lines weave throughout the composition, linking blue spheres of varying sizes.
Chacón said the silver lines are his favorite part of the piece because they change with the light.
“They reflect the light when you move around it,” he said. “The light reflects and it becomes white at one point and becomes silver at some points and then also dark.”
While the mural’s colors immediately draw attention, Chacón hopes visitors spend time considering the meaning behind the blue spheres.
“The idea behind the blue sphere says the unity is the soul,” he said. “It’s a place of gathering.”
He said the work reflects both Brookhaven’s diversity and its continued evolution.
“I think it symbolizes the ethnicity and the changes the city has, and reflects not only the future, but the past as well, but still you live in it in the present,” Chacón said.
Residents find their own meaning
Residents attending the unveiling found their own meaning in the piece.
Sandra Murray, who has lived in Brookhaven for 23 years, said she appreciated the mural even more after learning about the artist’s inspiration.
“I found out it’s a representation of a tree, the roots in the ground, leaves open up into the sky, and I really liked that when I realized it,” Murray said.
She also said she was intrigued by the mural’s three-dimensional blue spheres.
For Chacón, that personal interpretation is part of the artwork’s purpose.
“I would like people to come and see it and sit down with it,” he said. “Start looking at what you imagine yourself when you see it.”
He hopes the mural encourages visitors to reflect on both their individual journeys and their connection to the community around them.
“I think it’s like, where are we going, where we come from, and who we are,” Chacón said.
