Featured Mural Projects
Blandtown Mural, West Midtown, Atlanta — a City of Atlanta–commissioned mural at Northside Drive and 17th Street honoring the historic Blandtown neighborhood, painted ahead of the FIFA World Cup and covered by FOX 5, 11Alive, and UATL/AJC. Read the full story.
NBC Escape Routes Mural Commission Art Competition (2012) — Team Black, made up of Derek Konzelman, Drew Konzelman, and Corey Barksdale, won the overall 2012 Escape Routes Competition.
L'Occitane Mural, Buckhead, Atlanta — a mural depicting Atlanta history, painted for the L'Occitane store in Buckhead.
Pic Six Mural, Athens, Georgia — a whimsical, urban downtown-inspired mural painted on Clark Street in historic Athens.
Fairburn, Georgia Wall Mural and Kelly Mill Mural — public art commissions completed as part of city and community beautification projects.
International Community School, Decatur, Georgia — a mural on the school's outside wall, a favorite among the school's families.
Ben Hill Recreation Center, Atlanta — a commissioned mural completed as part of the PAINT BIG project, alongside WonderRoot, Living Walls, Dorian McDuffie, and the Atlanta Office of Recreation.
Why Cities Invest in Public Art
Public murals do more than decorate a wall. City and community partners commission them for placemaking — giving a block or a park a visual identity — as well as public safety (an active, cared-for wall discourages the blight and neglect that come with a blank or tagged one), equity and representation in neighborhoods whose stories haven't always been told, and tourism and foot traffic in commercial corridors. A well-placed mural can anchor a whole revitalization effort, which is why Corey works directly with cities, schools, and community organizations to shape each piece around what the specific neighborhood needs.
Choosing Among Atlanta Muralists
Atlanta has a deep bench of muralists, and the right fit depends less on style than on the wall. A studio painter and a muralist who works at architectural scale are doing different jobs — a four-story brick facade in a commercial corridor asks for lift work, surface prep, and weather sequencing that an interior canvas never does. Knowing which kind of project you have narrows the field before you talk to anyone.
Three questions separate most Atlanta muralists quickly. Has the artist painted on your surface before — brick, stucco, roll-down gate, concrete, and drywall each behave differently under paint? Have they worked inside a permitting process, whether that is a city review, a landlord's approval, or a school district's sign-off? And can they show you a wall five years after it was painted, not just the day it was finished?
Corey Barksdale has painted across most of those conditions — Hartsfield-Jackson concourses, Ben Hill Recreation Center through the PAINT BIG project, storefronts in Buckhead, schoolyards in Decatur. The gallery below is the long answer to that third question.
Working with an Atlanta Muralist
Commissioning a mural starts with a conversation about the wall, the space, and the story it needs to tell. From there, a design is developed and scaled to the wall, before painting begins. Once complete, murals are typically finished with a protective coat to guard against UV exposure and weather.
Whether the project is a school, office, home, restaurant, or public building, working with a local muralist means someone who understands Atlanta's architecture, neighborhoods, and communities firsthand.
Ready to commission a mural? See the full mural portfolio or start the conversation.
