CORNELIA — A new mural celebrating the history and diversity of Cornelia’s Ward 4 neighborhood is set to become the city’s next public art project, thanks to a $5,000 Vibrant Communities grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts. .
City Manager Donald Anderson Jr. announced the award during Tuesday’s city commission meeting, saying the funds will help cover the cost of a mural tentatively planned for Soque Street near Smith Park.
“These funds will be used to help with the cost of a public art project in Ward Four,” Anderson said. “We would like to paint a mural depicting something about the history of Ward Four, specifically on Soque Street.”
The city is partnering with Audrey Davenport, owner of Queen Street LLC, who assisted with the grant application and will serve as project manager and lead artist. Anderson said the mural will be painted on aluminum panels that can be mounted to the park fence, and the city plans to hold community meetings to gather neighborhood input before finalizing the design.
Davenport, who also helped secure Cornelia’s first arts grant several years ago, said the new project — titled “Brushstrokes of Change: Public Art for Rural Revival” — will serve as both a community story and a statewide model.
“We called it Brushstrokes of Change — public art for rural revival, turning our stories into landmarks,” Davenport said. “Ward Four is the most diverse ward in the city right now, but it was historically the Black neighborhood. I fashioned this grant to put Cornelia as a case study for the state of Georgia and its vision to acknowledge historical Black communities, which in many rural areas are dwindling and someday may be obsolete.”
Davenport praised the city’s collaboration and Anderson’s initiative in helping preserve the area’s legacy through art.
“I think it’s a big-hearted thing that Mr. Anderson decided to do and asked me to help with,” she said. “At the first community meeting, we’ll present what the grant is about and what this project entails.”
Community meetings for the mural are expected to begin in the coming weeks, with the final design reflecting stories and themes shared by Ward 4 residents.
