Adam Gabriel Winnie’s “Into the Night time Land” will shut this weekend with an artist speak on Sunday, August 3. (Photograph courtesy of eyedrum Gallery)
Every week, ArtsATL curates a choice of essentially the most thrilling arts and tradition occasions taking place in Atlanta this weekend, highlighting 9 must-see experiences.
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Thursday
Black Writers Weekend 2025 will get underway on Thursday with a welcome mixer at Buckhead Artwork & Firm from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The primary occasion will happen on Friday and Saturday, August 1 and August 2, on the Auburn Avenue Analysis Library and the Loudermilk Convention Middle. They’ll have workshops, e book signings, panels and a chance for writers to community and to pitch their work. Within the hours earlier than the competition kicks off, there will probably be a brief movie competition showcasing a dozen quick movies and trailers that commemorate the depth of the Black expertise. They’ll have screenings, Q&As with filmmakers and panels exploring the connection between storytelling, tradition and cinema. It’s taking place from midday till 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, on the Auburn Avenue Analysis Library.
Writer and former Atlantan Martin Padgett is on the town to speak about his new e book, The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Intercourse and the Supreme Courtroom within the Age of AIDS. In 1982, a police officer got here to Hardwick’s Atlanta house with a warrant for a unique matter, discovered him having intercourse with one other man and arrested him for sodomy. Hardwick challenged the case and Georgia’s sodomy regulation, and the Supreme Courtroom ultimately sided with the state in a controversial 5-4 ruling. The regulation stood for 17 years till Lawrence v. Texas did away with state sodomy legal guidelines. Padgett’s e book explores the story of the 1986 Supreme Courtroom case of Bowers v. Hardwick and the way it affected the previous Atlantan earlier than and after. Padgett will talk about his work on the DeKalb Historical past Middle at 6:30 p.m. on July 31.
True Colours Theatre Firm presents Jordan E. Cooper’s Ain’t No Mo’, which imagines what would occur if America supplied each Black individual a one-way ticket again to Africa. Along with being the youngest Black American playwright nominated for a Tony Award, Cooper can be the creator and showrunner for The Ms. Pat Present. The provocative Ain’t No Mo’ will probably be staged on the Balzer Theatre in downtown Atlanta by way of August 24.
Friday
Earlier this yr, Oklahoma’s psychedelic torchbearers, The Flaming Lips, wrapped up a world tour the place they carried out their 2002 basic, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, in its entirety. Arising this fall, they’ll be enjoying all of their 1999 album The Smooth Bulletin at Modest Mouse’s Psychic Salamander Pageant in Washington. There’s no information on what the set listing is like for this summer season tour as a result of the Atlanta date, on August 1 on the Coca-Cola Roxy, is the primary one of many run, however you’re more likely to hear a little bit from each of these albums. They’ll be co-headlining with Modest Mouse.
Reel Resistance: How the Lonesome Cowboys Raid Sparked the Southern Queer Rights Motion
Writer Martin Padgett will probably be amongst these main a neighborhood summit on how a 1969 screening of Andy Warhol’s Lonesome Cowboys impressed a queer resistance motion. On August 5, 1969, simply weeks after the Stonewall Rebellion, Atlanta police raided the Ansley Mall Mini-Cinema, which was displaying Lonesome Cowboys, focusing on members of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood in what would turn out to be a galvanizing second for queer resistance within the South. The aftermath of the raid led to the formation of the Georgia Homosexual Liberation Entrance, laying the groundwork for the primary Atlanta Delight Pageant and the broader Southern queer liberation motion. Atlanta Delight and Out on Movie are partnering to current this occasion, which features a Friday, August 1, screening of Lonesome Cowboys, adopted by the firsthand expertise of native activist, Abby Drue, and a reception. On Saturday, August 2, Padgett and Drue will talk about the fallout from the raid and the historical past of activism that adopted. The afternoon will supply six centered breakout periods on the function of politics, social media, drag, movie and extra. All of it takes place on the Dana High quality Arts Constructing at Agnes Scott School in Decatur.
Atlanta High quality Artwork Print Honest
The Black Artwork in America Gallery in East Level is internet hosting its third annual Atlanta High quality Artwork Print Honest this weekend, from August 1 by way of August 3. It’s an ideal place to start out for aspiring artwork collectors. They’ll have authentic and limited-edition works, artist discussions and demonstrations and academic talks on gathering.
Saturday
Snellville nation music quartet The Boykinz just lately acquired the Golden Buzzer on America’s Obtained Expertise 2025, which implies they’ll transfer on to the stay reveals, which begin on August 19. Earlier than that, the quartet of sisters — Kylan, Anale, Nytere and Alona — will probably be acting at Eddie’s Attic at 8:30 p.m. on August 2.
Sunday
Adam Gabriel Winnie artist speak
Atlanta-based artist Winnie’s Into the Night time Land attracts viewers right into a vividly imagined underworld. Mythic, psychological and deeply atmospheric, the present invitations quiet engagement and openness to thriller. Winnie will give an artist speak on Saturday, August 3, from 1 p.m. to three p.m. at eyedrum, a chance to listen to straight from the artist in regards to the concepts and processes behind the brand new work.
Further occasions from WABE’s The Metropolis Lights Collective and extra issues to do that weekend
On The Metropolis Lights Collective on WABE, ArtsAtl’s Shane Harrison provides a listing of greatest bets, airing within the 1 p.m. hour each Wednesday. This week, along with a number of the occasions listed above, he discusses the native look by Rod Stewart, who will probably be at Ameris Financial institution Amphitheatre in Alpharetta on Friday, August 1. The tour’s title is One Final Time, but it surely hasn’t been labeled a farewell tour. Nonetheless, Stewart is now 80, with a profession that spans six a long time, so that you by no means know when he’ll resolve to retire from the highway … The Motion of Fiber and Texture — a gaggle present that features sculpture, textiles, collage and extra — opens with a reception at 7:30 p.m. on August 2 at Gallery Chimera (624 North Highland Ave. NE). The present continues by way of September 27 … Heather Landsman’s archival documentary, The Better of Me, items collectively the story of Ricardo Lopez, a stalker whose video diaries charted his obsession with Björk in chilling element. Using solely Lopez’s video diaries, Landsman reconstructs a psychological timeline of fan obsession metastasizing into excessive violence. The movie will display, with a director speak again with Landsman, at The Bakery Atlanta on the Grocery store from 6 p.m. to eight p.m. Saturday, August 2.