Creative confluence
Wednesday, Sept. 16 — Art is a study of relationships. Perspectives. The connection between a vision and execution. The tie between artist and subject. A piece and its audience. Rarely is it a truly solo undertaking.
The two stories featured in this week’s Sketchbook explore how those bonds play out.
Portrait painter Jackie Dorsey’s “Legendary Georgia Musicians” series opens at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art later this month. Our preview of the exhibition touches not only on the work itself, but also the collaborative process between Dorsey and the 20+ Georgia musicians she captured in watercolor.
Then, the team behind Forward Warrior Street Fest 2026 shared how authentic relationships formed with artists, city arts leaders, and local sponsors have sustained the Cabbagetown mural festival’s 12-year run, allowing preservation and evolution along the Wylie Street corridor.
What’s notable is that each story is one of coming together to create – a fan with musicians she’s admired, some for almost a lifetime, and a collective keeping Cabbagetown colorful and fresh.
Where’s your passion pushing you to collaborate?
—Sherri Daye Scott
A watercolor tribute
🎸 A collection of twenty-two Georgia musicians’ portraits, painted in watercolor, opens Sept. 26 at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art. Proceeds from the “Legendary Georgia Musicians” exhibition will benefit the Georgia Music Foundation and Nuci’s Space.
➡️ Learn about the collection.
Salt: A Design Story
SPONSORED BY MUSEUM OF DESIGN ATLANTA
🧂 Salt has always been more than seasoning. It shaped bodies, cities, trade routes, ritual, and language across centuries.
MODA’s newest exhibition, “Salt: A Design Story,” traces how humans built the world around this one small crystal, from ancient harvesting methods and salt architecture to the craft salt revival happening today.
Taste five salts side by side at our hands-on tasting bar, and see how something so ordinary became so essential.
→ Bonus! MODA offers Free Fridays through October 31.
80 murals, one weekend
🎨 Wylie Street’s mural mile gets a glow-up this weekend. Forward Warrior returns Sept. 18–20 with 80 fresh murals, five new artists, a Krog Tunnel projection-mapping show, poetry readings and free kids’ activities.
Art Happenings
🏛️ Clark Atlanta University Fall ’26 Exhibition Opening Reception | 4:30-7 p.m., Sept. 17 | Clark Atlanta University Art Museum.
🌍 “NuAfricans by Maurice Evans and Grace Kisa” Opening Reception | 6:30-9 p.m., Sept. 18 | Hammonds House Museum (pictured).
📸 “Delphine Diallo: The Mythic Quest” Opening Reception | 6 p.m., Sept. 18 | ADAMA.
🪕 Finster Fest 2026 | 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sept. 19-20 | Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden, Summerville.
⌛ “Anamnesis: Works by Sergio Suárez” Curatorial Conversation | 4:30-5:45 p.m., Sept. 19 | Michael C. Carlos Museum of Art.
Post of the Week
⚡ Atlanta to Seattle
Atlanta paper artist @atlexwolf
debuted “Thunder Shock” for @gallery.ergo‘s 5-Year Anniversary Show. The piece features three Pikachus, each representing a decade of Pokémon, inspired by her family’s love of the series.
➡️ See the post.
🖋️ Today’s Sketchbook was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
