Atlanta, GA — On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Off the Tracks Mural Festival is breaking ground in Kirkwood, where several local artists will be painting five walls in the downtown Kirkwood business district.

Carrie Padgett and Adam Stevenson co-founded art non-profit Off the Tracks after working on a couple of large installation projects together. Both Padgett and Stevenson have been professional artists for some time, with a degree in painting from SCAD and a long career in graphic design and graffiti arts, respectively.

Padgett is a native Atlanta resident, watching the city grow throughout her life. Her passion is to create an inviting space that supports local artists, and she saw an opportunity for artwork through Atlanta’s fast-paced development.

Stevenson and Padgett came together and asked, “How can we connect more muralists with more walls?” The answer inspired the Off the Tracks Mural Festival.

“We’ve both participated in larger mural festivals, and that’s a really great way to get a lot of people’s names out there,” Padgett said. “Now, we’re curating artists from around Atlanta that are really varied, making sure there’s a voice from everyone. That’s a lot of what this festival is about. It’s a combination of mentorship and beautification of tactical urbanism projects.”

So, what can attendees expect from this new festival?

While they will be working on these walls starting October 15, all the artists are coming together to paint on October 22. Festival goers are invited to come enjoy and celebrate public art, talk with the artists, and be patrons of the local businesses in downtown Kirkwood.

Here is the Off the Tracks Board of Directors. All the board members are muralists themselves and will be painting at the festival:

Carrie Padgett, co-founder @imakebigart

Adam Stephenson, co-founder @tiltandfade

Matt Letrs, festival chair @letsgopaint

Drew Borders, secretary & admin  @drewborders.art

George F. Baker III, equity director @gfb3

David “Skape” Craig, at large & graphic design @skape_zilla

Below are all the artists who are working with the board. Interested in seeing where they are on October 22? Check out their Instagram accounts for updates on where they’re painting.

Lisette, @arrrtaddict  

Trudy Tran, @art.of.trudy

Nicole Merizalde, @zaldepaints

Andrew Blooms, @andrew.blooms

Fabian Williams, @occasionalsuperstar

Cameron Moore, @yoyocam

Matt Letrs, @letsgopaint

During the month of October, Off the Tracks will be fundraising at businesses in downtown Kirkwood. Follow @offthetracksinc on social media to see where you can go to show support as well as for fall and spring festival updates.

Off the Tracks work won’t stop in October, though.

There are already plans in place for another mural festival in the spring at the intersection of College Avenue and Rockyford Road. The walls need repair after a decade of weathering and vandalism. Seventeen artists have been recruited to paint a 1,000-foot stretch of wall that is 25 feet high at its tallest.

To learn more about Off the Tracks, visit https://www.offthetracksinc.org.

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