Garden Art for the Soul Public Art Hits The Atlanta Beltline at Freedom Park

The Najee and Seteria Dorsey 2017

In 2017, artists and cultural entrepreneurs Najee and Seteria Dorsey planted the first seeds of Garden Art for the Soul in the backyard of their Columbus, Georgia home. What began as an intimate expression of creativity has grown into a movement—one that brings art beyond gallery walls and into shared, public spaces. Today, that story expands as Garden Art for the Soul, a subsidiary of Black Art in America™ (BAIA), unveils its latest installation in partnership with the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs at Freedom Park, one of Atlanta’s most symbolic green spaces.

This exhibition marks BAIA’s second year curating public art for the City of Atlanta, continuing the organization’s mission to make art more accessible and to place African American creativity at the heart of community life. Located along the Freedom Park Trail, a corridor that connects with the Atlanta BeltLine and draws visitors from around the world, the installation encourages both residents and tourists to experience art as part of the city’s living landscape.

Freedom Park itself is a site layered with history. Once slated for a massive highway project, more than 500 homes were demolished before a coalition of residents and activists launched the decades-long “Stop the Road” movement—ultimately transforming land once marked by displacement into a symbol of collective resilience. Today, the park links Atlanta’s historic neighborhoods and landmarks such as the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and The Carter Center, embodying the spirit of community resistance and renewal.

It is fitting, then, that Garden Art for the Soul—born from the Dorseys’ home and now rooted in BAIA’s gallery and sculpture gardens and homes around the country —extends that vision of home, memory, and freedom into this reclaimed civic space. The installation features several Atlanta-based artists whose works celebrate family, heritage, and resistance. Pieces such as “Black Lives Matter” by Stacey Brown, “Autumn Breeze” by Najee Dorsey, and “Sweet Amelia’s Garden” by Phyllis Stephens, Sunday Stroll by James Denmark and Weekend Hangout 5 by Akinola Taoheed among others invite visitors to move through the park as if walking through a shared front yard—where history is honored, joy and remembrance coexist, and Black life is seen in full color.

Access the installation where Bernina ne Ave and Copenhill Ave ne Atlanta meet