Gallery 72 Voted Best New Gallery by Creative Loafing

Best New Gallery: Gallery 72

Staff Pick

The latest addition to Atlanta’s legacy of municipal galleries doubles as a testament to the value of rehabilitated urban spaces. By turning the bottom floor of the former Atlanta Journal-Constitutionheadquarters on Marietta Street into GALLERY 72, the city honored its spoken commitments to Downtown and the arts. Perhaps it’s no small irony that Courtney Hammond serves as the manager of Gallery 72 for the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. As one-half of celebrated local arts organization Dashboard Co-op, Hammond, with co-founder Beth Malone, have been credited with helping to revive interest in otherwise decimated intown properties by hosting exhibits and installations in neglected buildings. A $100,000 redesign of the 3,000-square-foot space, executed by Stanley Beaman & Sears, features a nine-story outside marquee designed to mimic the movement of the modern printing press. But it’s the exhibits inside that have reflected the state of Atlanta’s art scene. The inaugural exhibit featured works from local artists, including Nikita Gale, Craig Drennen, and InKyoung Chun, curated by local galleries Saltworks, Poem 88, and Marcia Wood. A civil war-themed exhibit curated by celebrated Atlanta artist Radcliffe Bailey ranged from Stephen Shames’ iconic photography of the Black Panthers to South African contemporary artist Mohau Modisakeng’s art video installation of mourning, “Inzilo.” The gallery also hosted the second annual Walthall Fellowship exhibition featuring works by emerging Atlanta artists in partnership with WonderRoot and the Zuckerman Museum of Art. By working with local galleries and curators, the OCA is curating the best of, and for, Atlanta.