West End Atlanta, GA
*Update: 3/31/2023 - We just repainted this mural around the corner. It’s a bit smaller now but actually better for photo ops. We are glad to have it back on our map! Scroll to bottom of post to see new the mural.
Greetings from the West End ATL on the historic west side of Atlanta! Our goal is to paint a Greetings mural in every state, and now Georgia is officially complete. Earlier in the year, we met with the LEE + WHITE team who reached out to us to create a mural at a new property they are developing along the BeltLine. This particular neighborhood is in the southwest part of Atlanta.
"Originally coined as part of “Warehouse Row,” Lee + White sits sandwiched between Atlanta's BeltLine’s Westside Trail and Rose Circle Park. With Adair Park across the street and the West End MARTA station a quarter mile from the property, this project embodies the revitalization of many Westside neighborhoods."
Initially, we pitched a “Greetings from ATLANTA” mural sign, but met in the middle to do a “Greetings from WEST END” utilizing imagery that was relevant to Atlanta as a whole. The canvas was on the bigger side, and we were working on a sloped grade. Therefore, we had some minor issues with the lifts but got it all worked out! Thank you, Ahern Rentals as usual! The weather during the painting included some unexpected freezing temperatures that killed out batteries. However, we were still able to complete the mural in about one week. Special thanks to local artist Ben Janik who assisted on some imagery within the letters!
The 3D of this mural was a new concept we haven’t tried yet. It was 3 tones (similar to Honeybear) but also involved 3 angles so in total we had to use 9 colors to execute it. Although labor intensive, we were extremely happy about the overall results! Working on boom lifts also slows down the mural painting process a bit, but we still made it happen in time.
One of our favorite local restaurants was Tassili's Raw Reality Café. It is a raw, vegan eatery with amazing wraps and probably one of the best things we had to eat in Atlanta. Overall, the food in Atlanta is amazing and there’s a lot of culture here. We would love to come back to paint an official “Greetings from ATLANTA” mural at some point since you just can’t capture it all within one mural.
Since we’ve painted this mural back in 2017, it looks like a lot has developed in the area. We love being tagged in your Instagram photos and seeing all the creativity with our artwork. Until next time, thank you, Atlanta & we will definitely be back!
Following recent construction during the pandemic, the community was unhappy to see the removal of the original mural. Luckily, the developers Lee+White contacted us to repaint the mural at a new location around the corner. We were happy to return and recreate the mural, which became a local landmark.
During our search for Airbnb accommodations in the area, we even stumbled upon the original mural being used as a cover photo for several properties! It was impressive to see how much had changed since our last visit. We brought back our friend Ben Janik, who helped with the original mural, to assist on the re-paint.
The new mural is now smaller but more interactive for photo ops. We chose to position the lettering higher this time to avoid interference from doors and light fixtures at the bottom of the wall. We also made slight changes to some of the content to reflect the West End community more accurately. Once again, big shout out to David Wang, Ben Janik, and local photographer HJ Parsons for pulling this together so quickly!
Re-paint photos courtesy of @h_j_parsons
Letter Guide:
W — Fox Theatre
E — Homage To King Sculpture
S — 96' Olympic Bridge Atlanta
T — Georgia peaches
E — Georgia Aquarium *Updated to Clark Atlanta University (2023)
N — Blocks of Culture Banner – Historic West End
D — Midtown Atlanta Skyline
Year: 2017 / 2023
Mural Size: 18'H x 43'W (Original in 2017) / 17’H x 25’W (Re-painted in 2023)
Location: 1020 White St. SW Atlanta, GA 30310