On a recent Thursday afternoon in Adamsville on the west side of the city, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens stood on the bustling M.L.K. Jr. Drive. The first-term mayor pointed down the street to the nearby McDonald’s where he had his bicycle stolen as a child.
“This is home for me, I grew up right here,” he said. “There’s so many memories in this area.”
But Dickens wasn’t there to try to hunt down the bicycle thief decades later. He came for the unveiling of a new art piece that features the Adamsville-native mayor and a group of other community leaders.
The large mural that stretches along the road is adorned with portraits of Dickens, Former Atlanta City Council member Clarence Terrell “C.T.” Martin, eight-term Georgia State Sen. Horace Tate, Reverend Dr. Gregory A. Sutton of Jackson Memorial Baptist Church and many others.
“I’m the mayor of the whole city but I do have a favorite which is the neighborhood I grew up in: Adamsville,” Dickens said. “The people of Adamsville raised me, nurtured me, protected me, helped shape my life and when it all mattered Adamsville has always showed up for me.”
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
City Council member Andrea Boone, who represents the area, said that the first residents in the 1800s were farmers. Previously known as “Lick Skillet Road,” the neighborhood is now home to a little over 6,000 Atlantans.
“Whoever thought that Adamsville would nurture and care for some of the greatest leaders that history will remember,” she said.
The mural titled “Adamsville Legacy” was painted by artist Ashley Dopson, who said the journey to creating the art piece started by painting the walls in the basement of Frederick Douglass High School.
“After 17 years of teaching art, I’ve learned that there is no better place to teach than in the streets of Atlanta on public walls,” she said Thursday. “These walls remind us of our history and encourage us to continue building from the blueprint that our ancestors have laid.”
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