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A Visit Along Georgia’s Hospitality Highway is Just the Ticket for Regional Arts and Culture
The communities along Georgia 400 host plenty of exciting events that combine everything from heritage and history to inspiration and creativity
January 2008 - In one of the most unique partnerships in the entire Southeast, the cities and towns along Georgia 400 – Georgia’s recently designated “Hospitality Highway” – have joined efforts to bring arts and culture to new heights. Blending history, heritage, and tradition with innovative and imaginative visual and performing arts, music, architecture, sculpture, gardening, literature, theater, and much more, the communities along the Hospitality Highway – Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, Cumming/Forsyth County, Dawsonville, and Dahlonega – bring not only the spotlight to North Georgia, but also a wealth of opportunities for personal and professional enrichment with an entire litany of galleries, museums, artists’ venues, and festivals. The arts element of a community is its cornerstone, and to see all that the Hospitality Highway has to offer, visit www.HospitalityHighway.com .
Visual and Performing Arts
For those on a quest for outstanding visual and performing arts, the search ends on the Hospitality Highway. Within the past several years, the area has emerged as the heartbeat of the performing arts circuit for the entire Southeast. In Roswell, for example, local favorites are the Kudzu Playhouse – whimsically christened “the theater that grows on you” – which has given rise to a multitude of local talent, and the award-winning professional Georgia Ensemble Theatre. The beautiful and historic Cumming Playhouse, set in the renovated 1923 Cumming School in Forsyth County, presents seasonal concerts and plays that have the true small-town, down-home atmosphere. For a touch of Appalachian magic, the legendary Holly Theatre in Dahlonega offers outstanding plays and productions, many of which are based on the mountains and their unique people and ways of life, while the ever-popular Chastain Amphitheatre in Chastain Park near Sandy Springs has played host to the likes of Norah Jones, Lyle Lovett, and Georgia-born Aretha Franklin And in Dawsonville, the Bowen Center for the Arts contains collections dedicated to the cultural and artistic spirit of Dawson County. New venues are on the horizon, too, including the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, a stunning 12,000-capacity development owned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Woodruff Center for the Performing Arts and which promises award-winning entertainment.
Art Galleries and One-of-a-Kind Shops
The Hospitality Highway’s location at the geographic crossroads between Atlanta and the North Georgia Mountains ensures an assortment of contemporary and traditional galleries and shops in which to plunder for treasure. Whether visitors are searching for watercolors, oils, acrylics, eclectic sculpture, dazzling jewelry, one-of-a-kind pottery, sparkling glasswork, old-fashioned quilts, or hand-crafted clothing, they can take advantage of a plethora of settings to find everything from “something old” or “something new” along the Hospitality Highway. From Sandy Springs northward, wonderful places abound, like the spectacular Raiford Gallery in Roswell, a gallery that is home to the creations of more than 400 artisans; and The Taylor Kinzel Gallery which offers original contemporary paintings, mixed media sculpture, and unique handmade jewelry (all told, about three dozen galleries and shops line the streets of Roswell). In Dawson County, browse for glasswork at Blue Ridge Glassworks and Substantial Lion or pottery and folk art at Around Back at Rocky’s Place. Dahlonega’s town square, including the impressive Buisson Art Center, is filled with dozens of shops and galleries, such as Hummingbird Lane and Bleu Gallery thatfeature the handiwork of local artisans, while Sandy Springs is home to the Art Institute of Atlanta, the proving ground of budding artists. Another favorite venue is Matilda’s in Alpharetta. Matilda's is a patchwork assembly of amusing cottages brimming with vivid pottery, furniture, fabrics, and artwork. And for the tamer spirit, the Sawnee Artist Gallery at the Humpus Bumpus Bookstore and Vickery Village showcase the talent of Cumming and Forsyth County.
Art, Antiques and Music Festivals
Spring is special along the Hospitality Highway, as this glorious season is a time when streets close down and make way for a multitude of lively and colorful arts festivals. Dahlonega celebrates the new season with events including the annual Mountain Flower Festival of the Arts and the Bear on the Square Mountain Music Festival. Farther down the road in Alpharetta, April brings the Alpharetta Arts Streetfest and the Old Time Alpharetta Antique Festival that houses more than forty dealers from across the United States. In Dawson County, the Art in the Garden Festival in May is a highlight of the season, while Sandy Springs commemorates warmer temperatures and fresh new blossoms with its Sandy Springs Festival that focuses on every aspect of the arts from music to collector items. Cumming and Forsyth County is home to the well-known Lakewood 400 antique market held monthly on Highway 400, and the flower-lined streets are host to a number of small events across the charming community. Historic Roswell celebrates its annual Colors Festival of the Arts each Mother’s Day weekend in May on the beautiful own square. Antiques are found in Roswell “uptown, downtown and all around town”, including the Historic Roswell Antique Market and Mulberry House Antiques.
These are but mere hints of the tremendous array of arts and culture along the Hospitality Highway. For more detailed information about these and other events, visit each community’s website:
Georgia’s Hospitality Highway, a stretch of Georgia 400 that meanders from Fulton County to Lumpkin County and includes the communities of Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, Cumming/Forsyth County, Dawsonville and Dahlonega, contains a fusion of restaurants, shopping, historic sites, outdoor activities, and much more, all amidst some of the most dazzling scenery and green space in all of the state. For more information, including links to additional websites and photography, visit www.hospitalityhighway.com .
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Media Contact: Dotty Etris, Executive Director
Historic Roswell CVB; 1.770.640.3253; 1.800.776.7935
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