"Canvas Instead of Gunfire": HWPL Georgia Paints a Picture of Atlanta's Recovery

Atlanta has been quietly transforming itself, one community initiative at a time, through a campaign called "Peach State to Peace State" — a play on Georgia's nickname that captures a bigger ambition: turning the Peach State into a genuine state of peace. Anchored by municipal resolutions and declarations of support for the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW), the campaign has been steadily moving from policy statements into the everyday lives of residents.

One of its latest expressions took the form of art.

A Gallery Becomes a Gathering Place

From July 23 to 26, HWPL's Georgia branch held the second edition of its "City That Bleeds No More: Recovery" art exhibition at The Supermarket, a gallery in Atlanta. The show brought together local artists whose work grappled with the social challenges facing the city, alongside visions of a more peaceful future.

The opening night on July 23 gave artists a chance to speak directly about the meaning behind their pieces, and included a hands-on element: attendees were invited to add their own artwork and messages, in spray paint, to a sketched outline of the city skyline.

From Expression to Action

The exhibition's most striking moment came on Saturday, July 25, during a panel discussion titled "From Expression to Action: Communities Revived Through Art." The conversation was moderated by Rose Scott, an Emmy Award-winning journalist with WABE 90.1FM, and brought together four panelists: Ryan Adkins, head of HWPL Georgia's peace education team and founder and CEO of Illusion Ranz Academy; Camille Gilmore, a multidisciplinary artist with the DeKalb County Arts Council; Eric Nine, an Atlanta-based muralist; and Zyir Washington, a member of the Fulton County Youth Commission.

Adkins opened the discussion by reflecting on the responsibility artists carry in the age of AI. He argued that art is fundamentally an expression of the human spirit, and that as AI blurs those lines, artists bear a growing responsibility to protect the humanity embedded within their work. He also spoke about how collaboration underlies even work that looks like the product of one person — the person who mixed the paint, who curated it, who sold it, who made the brush — drawing a parallel to how reviving a city like Atlanta similarly can't be done by any one person alone.

Gilmore brought the room to a quiet, reflective place with her own story. After a drunk-driving accident during her pregnancy left her with a diagnosis that she might never walk again, she described how music and dance became the vehicle for her recovery — recalling a song she heard at a roller rink that helped her get back on her feet, quite literally, eventually becoming a professional roller skater. She emphasized that what the next generation of artists needs most is authenticity.

Nine shared how a single act of artistic expression can ripple out into an entire community. He described a 50-foot mural he painted in 2021 that, contrary to what the commissioning client had asked for, secretly incorporated a color gradient across skin tones and a raised-fist motif carrying a message about human rights — a message he chose to keep hidden for a full year before revealing it. He said artists need the freedom to engage with the causes that genuinely resonate with them, noting that art's real strength lies in its flexibility to shift how people think, rather than simply preaching to them.

Washington, just 16 years old, delivered the panel's most sobering moment. As student body president and a member of the youth commission, he spoke plainly about a recent experience in which his closest friend was shot at a Midtown train station. His friend survived only because a bullet lodged in the crossbody bag he happened to be wearing — without it, he was told, the bullet would have gone straight through his lung. Washington asked how anyone is supposed to find the motivation to create art when they can't even feel safe using public transportation. It was, in many ways, the exhibition's heaviest question — a reminder that creative motivation struggles to take root in a city where basic safety isn't guaranteed. He called on the community to bring this reality to city council and push elected representatives to act.

A Shared Message of Solidarity

The spirit of solidarity carried into the Q&A session that followed. Sabrina Kirkland, who runs an intergenerational dialogue program called "Let's Talk," said that if generations are going to paint a beautiful picture together, they first have to resolve the one thing that divides them: misunderstanding and a lack of dialogue. She offered art as her answer to that problem.

Over four days of exhibition and one day of intense conversation, Atlanta's artists and residents worked to paint recovery and solidarity in place of violence and loss. The consistent message to emerge was that transforming Georgia into a true state of peace will take participation from every corner of the community — politicians, religious leaders, educators, and artists alike. HWPL's Georgia branch says it plans to continue that work through ongoing efforts to end community violence and to cultivate the next generation of youth leaders through peace education.

Source: HWPL