Stone Mountain Wins Prestigious ARC Award

The city of Stone Mountain received a local government award yesterday from the Atlanta Regional commission for its arts microenterprise program. 

The program, introduced last year, supports artists in setting up and running their own studios.

After several months of team work in planning, using as a springboard and inspiration an idea from the DeKalb Council for the Arts, Inc., the city created the “arts incubator” program to reinvigorate the economy of the city. Called SMart, Inc., the project required the close cooperation of the many leaders and groups in the city.

For several recent years the idea of arts, or “the creative industry,” as a business has been promoted by artists who have thriving businesses and real jobs.

“Whether the art or creative industry is architecture, wood turning, graphics, painting, sculpture, ceramics, music, literature, carpentry or any other that one can name, there is nothing in any space one occupies that some creative mind did not conceive or produce,” said Mayor Patricia Wheeler.

So, in the Village, the “team,” decided to capitalize on the idea. Why?

In the Village there were a large number of empty commercial spaces; the foot traffic from tourists had waned; local citizens within three miles or less in any direction had slowed their visits because of closed and inappropriate use of Main Street spaces; merchants' investments in inventory and fixtures were not yielding a sustainable income from their small businesses.

City leaders took these negatives as a challenge and are changing the direction and culture of the town.  New merchants who see the benefits of the renaissance have and are moving into other vacant spaces. The incubators are attracting other businesses and recreating the Village as a destination for tourists and residents of the area. 

The arts incubators have proved to be economic generators in the Village and the growth goes on.  At the center and as the hub of the SMart, Inc. studios and galleries is Stone Mountain’s own ART Station, Inc. which manages the project for the city. 

"Our whole team intends to return the city to a destination for people looking for something different and exciting, and we are not nearly finished with this opportunity,” said ART Station’s David Thomas said.

For further information or details about this “creative enterprise” project, contact Jack Sartain at jbs5951@aol.com.