Firefighters, GDOT officials and media weren't the only ones working overnight in the aftermath of the I-85 bridge fire and collapse.
Rory Hawkins, the Atlanta artist known as "Catlanta," was busy trying to soften the mood by creating a lighthearted piece of art. Posted on social media, it depicts a smiling cat acting as a bridge on the highway, allowing cars to make it safely across the gap.
The consoling caption on Facebook and Instagram reads, “Don't worry Atlanta, bridge kitten is here for you.”
Over on Twitter, the artist wrote: "My solution for this interstate problem. Doubtful it'll work, hopeful someone from Tech can check out my plans."
Hawkins was happy to hear there were no injuries in the I-85 disaster and “just wanted to make people smile this morning before they faced their commutes,” he wrote in an email.
MORE: Flashback photos: I-85 through the years, 1951-1997
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The artist came up with the idea around 9 p.m. Thursday while out at a comedy show, and got started on it around midnight.
“I really didn't want to stay up late, but this seemed like one of those Atlanta moments that people will reference for years to come, so I knew I had to capture it and have it ready before the sun came up,” Hawkins wrote.
The hand-painted woodcut piece, about three-to-four inches tall, took just over three hours to complete.
Hawkins will give away the piece for free Friday by hiding it somewhere in the city as part of “Free Art Friday,” an ongoing art scavenger hunt driven through the Instagram hashtag #fafatl.
If reaction to Hawkins’s “bridge kitten” posts are any indication, the person to find it will have a prized piece of art. The posts have gotten many shares, likes and comments across social media — including, of course, a call for the image to be put on a T-shirt.
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