Ground Floor: A Unique Atlanta Art Experience

Gas is going for $3.49 at the Exxon station on Edgewood Avenue in Atlanta. A few cars occupy the pumps. Just beside the gas station, in a meager stretch of grass between the parking lot and an old building, a crowd of people mingles. Images from the 1973 cult film “Holy Mountain” are projected onto a deteriorating brick wall, and Christ, Lord plays an all-acoustic performance at Dashboard Co-Op’s “Ground Floor.” An ambulance flies by, illuminating the accordion as Christian Ballew sings into a megaphone.

Glitter Stars

Dashboard Co-Op is a non-profit organization founded by Courtney Hammond and Beth Malone that promotes the work of artists. On Saturday, Oct. 8, Dashboard Co-Op organized a free art exhibition featuring the work of eight artists in five unoccupied buildings on Edgewood Avenue between Sound Table and Music Room, and glitter stars on the sidewalk signified which buildings featured a gallery.

The featured artists included P. Seth Thompson, Iman Person, Justin Rabideau, Nathan Sharratt, Henry Detweiler, Nikita Gale, Aubrey Edwards, Lee Deigaard, while the bands BOSCO and Cassandras played at Music Room and Christ, Lord performed on the street. The exhibited art ranged from photographs to paintings to curious creations hanging from the ceiling, a mixture of textures, the tangible, and the surreal.

Jordan Sullivan 

“The mix of music, art, and street scenery was a true Atlanta experience,” said Jordan Sullivan, a 23-year-old law student at John Marshall Law School. “Dashboard Co-Op has an incredible way of mixing artists and musicians so people of different cultures and tastes can come together and vibe.” He said that he’d never been to an event like the one on Saturday.

Brandon Camarda (left) and Christian Ballew of Christ, Lord

“The band shared a similar makeup as the Atlanta crowd – an eclectic group of music lovers of varying backgrounds,” said Sullivan. “It made me feel in touch with the universe.”

The non-profit organization hosts two major exhibitions per year, typically in underused areas of Atlanta. On Sept. 30, they organized FLUX 2011 at the Castleberry Hill Arts District, an event filled with every kind of art, including iron pours.