Hometown Artists

Hey Friends!
​Have you ever thought about what ART is right in your own community? Great artists are all around us. Do you know that you don’t have to travel far from home to see awesome art? That’s because we have artists who live in our own community. a person doesn’t have to be world famous to be an artist.

Here in Albany, Georgia, we have artists everywhere. We have painters, photographers and even people who make sculptures out of things they have found. Some people may look like they have ordinary jobs, but many people use art to express how they feel in their free time.

Let’s take some time to see what people are creating in our neighborhoods.

Do you know what a Mural is?

If you have ever seen a huge painting on directly created a wall on the inside or the outside of a building, then you have probably seen a mural. A  mural is any kind of artwork that has been placed on a huge, public space--just like the side of a building.

t’s big and it’s out in the open so that people can see it while they’re doing their everyday activities. Murals are creative ways to get people to stop and appreciate the beautiful things around them. It also helps people connect to their community because you can’t see the same thing anywhere else.

Have you ever seen this piece before? If you have ever driven down West Oglethorpe in Albany, Georgia, you have probably passed by this beautiful mural painted by Christoph Johnson.

He was part of a project where artists made murals all over the South to show the history behind different communities. He works on several murals each year around South Georgia, brightening up our communities and making art accessible to everyone!

​Albany has a deep history of agriculture, and Johnson wanted to show that. Agriculture is when people grow their own food. What do you see in this picture that makes you think of growing food on a farm? Find a parent or guardian and point out three things in this picture that you think have something to do with growing food!

​Here is another mural by Christoph Johnson! 

He painted this one on the side of Lincoln Elementary Magnet  School in  Albany. It's easy to see traveling north on Monroe Street. How do you think this improves the community? Do you think it makes people smile when they see it? 

Lets learn more about Murals and Wall Art!

Albany also has creative photographers!

Do you know what a photographer is? Well, have you ever taken a picture with your phone or your mom or dad's phone? If you have, then you are a photographer!

Photographers are a type of artist who use cameras to take pictures of things that they think other people would want to see. The cameras on phones can be real easy to use.

Some photographers use really big, complicated cameras to get the kind of pictures you would not be able to take with a regular camera or smartphone. Photographers have to pay attention to how much light is in their picture, what objects are in the picture and how the image may seem to a person who is looking at it.

The Albany Museum of art had an exhibition in 2018 called Inspired Albany. Artists from all over the Albany area submitted pictures they took that showed different parts of the Albany community. Let’s talk about some of them!

Find someone in your house and talk with them about the pictures you see here. You can ask yourself some questions about the pictures to get started. What colors do you see? Do you see any animals in these pictures? What season do you think it is when you look at these pictures? And one last question: How do these pictures make you feel about living in the city of Albany?

YOU CAN TRY IT, TOO!

Ask an adult if you can use their smartphone or camera for an at-home activity. We are going to become photographers! The steps are pretty simple:
-- Go in your backyard or in the front yard and see what you can find.
-- Take pictures of things that you think are cool, interesting or beautiful.
-- Share your pictures with the rest of your family!

Here are some that I took!

I can’t wait to see what you find!!