Just one block south of the Martin Luther King Jr. historical site, two new art galleries, One Contemporary and The Sun ATL, celebrated their openings on the same mid-January Friday night. In the midst of a bustling Edgewood Avenue, both drew the arts community out for an evening of appreciation. 

Although both galleries hosted their openings at the same time, the two are completely dissociated, yet structurally conjoined. That’s right, both businesses share a wall and the same purpose; aiding Atlanta’s robust art culture.

“Atlanta is considered a bubbling art hub and contemporary art destination, but we’re dead last for legislative funding for the arts. It’s a paradox,” said Faron Manuel, Director and Principal Curator at One Contemporary. There’s a lot of creativity and interest here, but we just need shows like this to get people inquiring and involved to help us grow here in Atlanta,” he added. 

From observation, One Contemporary is passionate about art’s future reality. The inaugural exhibition, titled “The Start of Something”, means just that. It leads with young, Gen-Y/Z work that spawned from an energetic era of existence. These artists have a unique understanding of life, blending it with their specialized medium, then producing pieces that reflect their current sense of self and cultural affairs. 

“I needed to tell this story about Atlanta in a very particular way. I think highly of these ten artists and they are a great example of what can be done, as a young artist in Atlanta making an impact,” said Manuel. 

Cozy, yet spicy, and lively, this gallery has potential to house pieces of the 21st century new Atlanta renaissance period.

Its neighbor, The Sun ATL, is owned and curated by Shawn Vinson, a four-time gallery co-founder himself. The gallery is housed in a space that was previously an architecture firm, so its structural components immediately set an exploratory mood. The exhibition, “First Light”, features artists from around the globe, touching European, American, and Congolese art. 

This gallery, for sure, is a mixing bowl of international art, but still shows respect for the city in which it breathes. “We are in the heart of Atlanta and I wanted to celebrate where we are, so we have Jim Alexander as a permanent artist here,” said Vinson. “Jim is a legend who’s been in Atlanta since the 1970s photographing Black culture, music, and civil rights. He was the first person I called to ask if I could show his work here,” he added. 

At the end of the day, both businesses compliment each other well, but juxtapose just the right amount to separate their narratives. Nestled next to a college campus and in the middle of a pedestrian-friendly social district, these two galleries provide alternativity to the bass and booze filled streets of Edgewood Ave. This is just another testament to the strength of Atlanta art.

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