Georgia’s Cobb County School District has warned students of potential consequences for participating in walkouts in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In response to increasing raids and arrests by ICE under the Trump Administration, many students across the nation participated in coordinated walkout protests on Friday, January 30th. Controversy has only intensified over the past several weeks following the high-profile deaths of protesters Renée Good and Alex Pretti, both killed this month by ICE agents in Minneapolis, as well as Keith Porter Jr., who was killed by an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles on New Years’ Eve.
On Tuesday, January 27th, the Cobb County District sent a message to families about the January 30th walkout, claiming that the campaign’s ask for students to leave school “would disrupt school operations and distract students and teachers.” The statement goes on to express that while the district supports its students’ participation in “non-disruptive” civic engagement, students are expected to be in attendance and participatory during school hours.
Data Collected from PSL Atlanta | January 31, 2026
Anyone who violates the Code of Conduct, including leaving class, skipping class, leaving authorized areas, unexcused absences, and/or disrupting the instructional day, will receive consequences in accordance with District policies. Those consequences include out-of-school suspension and the potential loss of parking privileges, sports, and extracurricular privileges. Each has long-lasting impacts that could be taken into account by college admission offices and future employers.
In response to this letter, eight Georgia legislators representing Cobb County issued an oppositional statement on January 29th: “Public schools play a critical role in preparing young people for civic life. Stifling students’ rights to engage in peaceful protest undermines that responsibility and sends the troubling message that student voices should be silenced rather than guided and respected,” the statement reads.
“… Our students deserve to see leaders respond to their concerns with dialogue-not discipline. We respectfully request that this policy be reversed and replaced with a policy of support for peaceful assembly and guidelines that foster both the academic and emotional well-being of our students, as well as, a safe space to exercise free speech,” via Lisa Campbell (@LisaforGeorgia) and Gabriel Sanchez (@SanchezforGeorgia) on Instagram.
In the wake of the legislators’ statement, Randy Scamihorn, Chair Cobb County Board of Education doubled down on the district’s original stance, standing with parents and educators who “want to just teach [their] children and leave them out of the political arena,” according to the Marietta Daily Journal.
“I think it’s sad that some of our representatives, that should set an example for all of us, are supporting disruption of school,” he said. “And that they’re misleading our young people (to believe) they have a right to disrupt a situation anytime they feel spontaneous about it, whether it’s school or anything else, that’s what they’re teaching them,” he told the Journal.
Both parents and students in Cobb County have taken issue with the district’s claims of “external groups” recruiting participants for walkouts. According to the Cobb County Courier, students who organized a protest at Wheeler High School responded to the statement in an email:
“They proclaim that ‘external groups’ are attempting to ‘recruit students’ to walk out, but these ‘groups’ consist of Wheeler’s own students, students who are worried for their community, their friends, families, and themselves…” the email read. “We are students who simply want a better future, and how will we get one if our students do not even feel safe in their own school? What is CCSD doing to protect the children of the future?”
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Last week, The Arthur Blank Foundation announced that accredited Georgia High Schools will be eligible to receive a grant to start a Girls Flag Football team.
The partnership between the foundation and the Atlanta Falcons will grant $10,000 to any girls flag football team that did not exist before the 2025 season. All other programs that were established before 2025, will receive a $5000 grant. Interested schools must apply to enter the grant pool.
Georgia High School Association Executive Director, Dr. Tim Scott is grateful for the opportunity this presents going into next season.
“We are deeply grateful to the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Atlanta Falcons for their continued support of flag football,” Scott said.
Image Courtesy of The Atlanta Falcons
In December of 2025, the GHSA girls flag football state championships were played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium where five different state champions were crowned. Currently, flag football is split into five divisions in the state of Georgia.
In 2020, the state of Georgia became the fourth state to sanction girls flag football as an official high school football sport.
Organizations interested in applying are encouraged to learn more online.
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After a full year of anticipation, the Atlanta Art Fair hosted its second appearance at Pullman Yards, briskly ushering in Fall 2025.
Over 70 exhibitors and thousands of appreciators flooded the city to reengage with artists, collectors, curators, and works from across the globe.
Building on the inaugural year’s success, 2025’s exposition added a little extra paint to last year’s canvas by growing international interest, diversifying experiences through sensory, and emphasizing the support for home-grown talent. “This second edition of Atlanta Art Fair proved that the city and the region are ready to sustain a fair of this scale and ambition,” said Kelly Freeman, Director of Atlanta Art Fair.
The pendulum continues to swing in favor of sweet, Southern art as it demands attention through a unique language. Among the twenty-seven Atlanta-based galleries that returned to present work this year were the Alan Avery Art Company, Artful ATL, Black Art in America, Day & Night Projects, Dunwoody Gallery, Fay Gold Gallery, Jackson Fine Art, Johnson Lowe Gallery, Marcia Wood Gallery, and Spalding Nix Fine Art.
This year’s line up of public projects also showed impressively. T.W. Pilar’s Living Archive, File 00commands conversation about human and environmental cohabitation. Each structure encapsules living, organic greenery inside industrial materials visually displaying our coexistence, and suggesting that beauty and destruction can live in the same space. The Atlanta-based artist is self-taught and explores the juggle of ethics and aesthetics by working with steel, plastics, and living flora to communicate the dance between the two; a dance that resculpts our world.
T.W. Pilar, Living Archive, File 00, Atlanta, 2025. Local fauna, soil, plexiglass, steel 60 x 60 x 10 inches
Through Conversation
The theater discussions and panels from this year’s fair were rich, engaging, and provided a well rounded perspective of artists from various disciplines. Photography As Discovery: Villa Albertine Artists in Residence in Atlanta and Marseille brought Nydia Blas and Joshua Greer, two Atlanta-based photographers, and Yohanne Lamoulére, a Marseille-based photographer together to recap their experiences in opposite, southern cities. Sharing their unique, yet similar, exposure to culture through their own lenses, they discussed ways they grew to understand who and what they were capturing.
“Talks are definitely useful to help people meet the artists,” said Atlanta photographer and documentarian, Susan Ross. “There were a number of artists that had work there who came to the talks. I went to a couple last year, but couldn’t make many this time,” she added.
Some could argue that motherhood is an art in of itself; one that only a margin of populations can experience. The Art And Motherhood panel with Atlanta-based fiber artist, Adana Tillman, Andrea Zieher, co-founder ZieherSmith, Courtney Jewett Bombeck, Founder, CO-OP Art Atlanta, Liz Andrews, Executive Director, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, (moderator), and Atlanta-based artist, Shanequa Gay, explored this special forces that blend together and influence their work. Here, this powerful panel undressed the stereotypes, industry expectations, and relatable sentiments that can, like motherhood, be clingy, distracting, and rewarding all at the same time.
Adana Tillman, Table for Two, 2024, Appliqued found fabrics with hand dyed textiles, embroidery thread, glass beads, paint, 54 x 100 x 1 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Jonathan Carver Moore.
Through Sensory
There’s more than one way to engage with art and using your senses as a multidimensional highway can provide a deeper understanding of whatever you’re experiencing. At the surface level, fair-goers, typically, are expected to engage visually then go about their business. Fortunately for them, this year gave more than met the eye by presenting a number of interactive elements to enhance viewer experience.
One particularly popular piece, ‘DODECAHEDRON‘ by Anthony James for Melissa Morgan Fine Art Gallery, made its way back to Atlanta for another year of “wowing” passersby peering into a multidimensional abyss. As discussed after the inaugural fair, this piece stood out like a thumb dipped in Swarovski.
Although we’ve encountered James’ mirrored prism before, local artists Laila Jhané and Chanel Angeli’s ‘City in a Forest’ also caught viewer attention. Their piece, in conjunction with Fulton County’s Public Art Futures Lab, is inspired by Atlanta’s reputation to have the densest tree canopy in the nation. This project might have been plopped in the furthest corner of the venue, but it still managed to hold a steady line to interact with its blooming, silhouetted features. The entire piece uses technology to merge realities.
“When you think about technology, it can feel so cold and isolated. With partnering with Chanel, we were able to give it life in a way that I don’t think Atlanta’s gotten to see before, said Atlanta-based new media artist, Laila Jhané. “Experimenting on how I could make things bigger, I was using my webcams in a distorted fashion, so that you could only see the silhouette of myself. That’s when I realized two things can tie in together,” she added.
With a slight stretch of the imagination, a line can be drawn between ‘City in a Forest’ and the “Living Archive, File 00’ public project. Both artists encapsulated the human and environmental modern relationship in their works.
Dodecahedron, 2008 -Present STAINLESS STEEL, SPECIALIZED GLASS, LED
‘City in a Forest’ created by artists Laila Jhané and Chanel Angeli
Momentum For Atlanta Fine Art
The second edition of the Atlanta Art Fair attracted over ten thousand people sharing interest in and being within proximity of a swelling fine art scene. Building on last year’s momentum, the fair saw an uptick of local and international galleries, sales, and the debut of the Balentine Art Prize.
Here are a few quick stats…
2024
2025
Attendance
unreported
13,500
Exhibitors
~60
72
Atlanta Galleries
21
27
International Galleries
7
10
Non Returning Atlanta Galleries
nah
13
Non Returning International Galleries
nah
4
Proof of all growing ecosystems equate to more dollar bills in circulation, and in this case, landing in the pockets of local talent. According to post fair reports, sales were strong at the mid-market level, boosting potential for regional fairs driving sales and watering a new generation of collectors. Atlanta-based galleries like Black Women in Visual Art, Day & Night Projects, Fay Gold Gallery, and Spalding Nix, reported strong results.
“This year was very well attended, especially the preview day and held steady traffic throughout the remainder of the weekend,” said Daricia Mia DeMarr, Co-Founder, Black Women in Visual Art. “In our booth, we exhibited 18 works and sold about six pieces. We sold something from each artist and that was really good to pass some success in sales. That’s very important for any fair or institution.” she added.
“There were several pieces that I saw last year that I was hoping to see again this year, and a number of those did show up again,” said Michael Harris, former Hammond’s House Board Member and Art Consultant. “I certainly noticed, like everything else, profits going up. People who were serious probably found things that were interesting and valuable. It was an expensive show,” he added.
One other surprising element showcasing growth was the introduction of the Balentine Prize. From here on, the Balentine Prize will be awarded to an emerging artist exhibiting “exceptional promise” in their work. Artists from Atlanta and the Greater American South are the only candidates eligible for this prize. To set the tone, Caroline Allison’s Book of Hours (Nones) for ZieherSmith Gallery became the very first to take home the new prize.
Pictured are (L to R) Robert Balentine, chairman of Balentine; Balentine Prize recipient Carolina Allison; Mark Bell, Ph.D., partner at Balentine; Scott Zieher and Andrea Smith Zieher of ZieherSmith Gallery, in front of the winning entry, Book of Hours (Nones).
AAF year two stood on the blueprint of a successful opener. Foot traffic increased. Sales increased. Diversity of work increased. The respect and demand for Atlanta in a vibrant, global fine art market?
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