“Callanwolde celebrates the holidays with Winter House,”
FOX 5 Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Chris Rosenthal featured Callanwolde’s Winter House, including an artists’ market, workshops, a “Whiskey Dickens” holiday play, and a tour of all the beautiful holiday decorations that Winter House has to offer through December 14th.
Callanwolde’s Winter House is a beloved annual holiday celebration that transforms the historic Candler Mansion into a festive destination filled with art, music, seasonal decor, and family-friendly programming. This year’s Winter House features an expanded lineup of events designed to inspire creativity, ignite holiday spirit, and welcome the community into one of Atlanta’s most treasured cultural landmarks.
“Callanwolde looks to nearby church for expansion plan,”
Good Day Atlanta
Good Day Atlanta reporter Paul Milliken highlighted the Forward Warrior exhibit in a story about Callanwolde’s new expansion plans and Preserve. Inspire. Grow. campaign.
Callanwolde’s current exhibit features artists from Forward Warrior, an annual event in which more than 50 local artists paint murals in Cabbagetown over a weekend. The exhibit provides an opportunity for a new audience to be introduced to these artists and highlight the artists’ talents beyond murals.
Murals will also be a component of Callanwolde’s newest expansion plans. The original plan was to raise money to construct two new buildings on the Callanwolde campus: a pottery studio and flex arts building. But then, the church across the street at 999 Briarcliff Road went on the market, and Callanwolde Executive Director Andrew Keenan says it became immediately clear that buying the 28,500-square-foot building with 140 parking spaces and using it as the expansion space made much more sense.
“Callanwolde announces new fundraising focus to buy nearby property,”
Atlanta Business Chronicle
“Football-playing ballet dancer in DeKalb County thriving thanks to arts program."
Atlanta News First
The Callanwolde Dance Progressions Program at Kelley Lake Elementary School was featured on Atlanta News First, showcasing fifth-grade student Jamal, a football-playing ballet dancer.
“I come to the class because I like expressing myself,” Jamal shared, although he admitted he is sometimes teased for being the only boy in dance class. “When they first said it, I was mad and I was sad, but now I know that they can get inspired by you.”
Jamal is enrolled in an after-school dance program that is funded and run by Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. Callanwolde partners with Title I schools, to provide a fully funded program, and teaches kids how to dance ballet and jazz, and how to enjoy the sport.
“Youth taught about jazz.”
The Champion
The Callanwolde Dance Progressions Program at Kelley Lake Elementary School was featured on Atlanta News First, showcasing fifth-grade student Jamal, a football-playing ballet dancer.
“I come to the class because I like expressing myself,” Jamal shared, although he admitted he is sometimes teased for being the only boy in dance class. “When they first said it, I was mad and I was sad, but now I know that they can get inspired by you.”
Jamal is enrolled in an after-school dance program that is funded and run by Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. Callanwolde partners with Title I schools, to provide a fully funded program, and teaches kids how to dance ballet and jazz, and how to enjoy the sport.
Echoes Arts ATL review from Cullum's Notebook
Check out Jerry Cullum's review of Echoes: Surrealism's Influence 100 years since the First Manifesto, for Arts ATL.
“Jazz musicians dedicate time to teach kids camp”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Callanwolde’s Art Scholars camps are part of the initiative created when Callanwolde Fine Arts Center expanded its mission in 2021 to provide Atlanta’s underserved with premier, accessible arts education while promoting the enjoyment of the arts at the historic Callanwolde estate. This year, almost 100 kids participated in the Art Scholars camp, which offered five full days of free art enrichment to support low-income elementary school students during the summer.
Callanwolde brought in renowned jazz musician Karla Harris and the Joe Alterman Trio for an extra camp day because the kids had so much fun with her music lessons last year. Harris has been recognized for her educational outreach through Jazz. She has been a longtime volunteer with Young Audiences, a national arts outreach organization, and helped to develop a music curriculum for children when she was in college.
“I like how this place lets you express yourself in all of the classes and how they show you different forms of art and how you can use them to your own advantage,” 10-year-old Cedar Grove Elementary fifth grader Kyle McGuire said.
Callanwolde Executive Director Andrew Keenan says the camp is his favorite week of the year at the fine arts center. “Considering the quality of work, the appreciation, and the connections they make – and just being at Callanwolde is an experience,” he said. “They’re getting something every kid should have an opportunity to do.”
Keenan wants to expand the camp to include more students and reach other elementary schools. The Callanwolde Fine Arts Center’s 25th Anniversary Jazz on the Lawn Concert Series, an annual fundraiser sponsored by Audi Atlanta, will contribute to that goal. To start the fall concert season, Karla Harris and the Joe Alterman Trio are scheduled to perform “Back to School Blues,” a song she composed with the help of the campers, at the first Jazz on the Lawn concert on Aug. 23.
Tickets can be purchased at callanwolde.org/events.
Announcing the Callanwolde Young Professionals Board
In 2023, Callanwolde launched our Young Professionals Board (YPB) in partnership with the leading international law firm Alston & Bird LLP. Comprising talented and passionate young individuals, the YPB will play a vital role in our nonprofit’s growth and impact.
The YPB’s primary focus will be to develop and execute fundraising strategies in close collaboration with the Callanwolde Board of Directors, aligning proposed strategies with our organizational goals and priorities. This involves organizing fundraising events, securing donations from individuals and corporations, and pursuing grant opportunities to sustain our mission.
Moreover, the YPB will actively identify and cultivate new donors, particularly among young professionals in the vibrant Atlanta community. Through relationship-building initiatives, engaging events, and leveraging social media platforms, they will expand our supporter base while raising awareness of our mission and impact.
Beyond fundraising, the YPB will provide invaluable leadership and support by offering insights on critical issues and increasing opportunities for our organization. Serving as ambassadors in the Atlanta community, they will participate in public speaking engagements, represent us at networking events, and advocate passionately for our mission and priorities. Together with the Callanwolde Board of Directors and staff, the YPB propels us forward towards a brighter future.
Megan Cambre Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, LLP
Prathyusha Chenji Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
Jennifer Cotton Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
Jessie Crane Alston & Bird LLP
Brittany Fales Alston & Bird LLP
Jill Giornelli Bloch Behavioral
Elizabeth Holden Jones Fortuna LP
Watson Horner Alston & Bird LLP
Colleen Howard U.S. Department of Labor
Michelle Jackson Alston & Bird LLP
Madelynn Kay Troutman Pepper
Sarah Lawler World 50, Inc.
Ash Penn Alston & Bird LLP
Sharada Sridhar Georgia Institute of Technology
Hillary Stanfield Bank of America
Benjamin Torres King & Spalding
Catherine Van Duys Alston & Bird LLP
Amanda Wellen Alston & Bird LLC.
A bright future for Atlanta’s Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
Good Day Atlanta spoke to Callanwolde Fine Arts Center about its past and its plans for the future. They are currently in the process of raising $8.5 million to expand its arts education and community programs.
“Callanwolde to expand facilities to grow arts services for underserved,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Living & Arts reporter Elizabeth Crumbly recently sat down with Callanwolde Foundation Board President Glenn Warren, Jr. and Callanwolde Fine Arts Center Executive Director Andrew Keenan to discuss the Build. Inspire. Grow. capital campaign that will fund a transformative renovation and construction project — expanding the community arts center’s ability to provide access to the arts to the community.
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center is a phoenix flown from the ashes if there ever was one. Gleaming woodwork, soaring ceilings, immaculate grounds and a custom pipe organ twined through the bones of the main house made the estate one of Atlanta’s finest before it fell into ruin and faced possible demolition in the early 1970s. Because of a community and a family that stood by it, however, Callanwolde found a second life as a fine arts center. Now, a planned expansion is set to position it as a go-to arts resource for area populations who might not otherwise be served.
“Callanwolde was saved by individuals in the community, and it’s a really good formula,” Keenan said. “We relied on earned revenue for a long time. … Now, with all the work we’re doing with underserved communities, we’re having to rely on contributions.”
The current facilities are at capacity, and the need for access to quality arts classes and programming exceeds Callanwolde’s current availability. The new structures will allow Callanwolde to serve double the number of participants who currently come for art, dance, pottery instruction and more.
The planned Mr. and Mrs. William C. Warren III Flex Arts Building, at nearly 10,300 square feet, will house studios for dance, painting and drawing overlooking a swath of Atlanta’s signature forest. A pottery building — at just under 2,300 square feet — will house two new studios upstairs, allow for an expansion of the existing outdoor kiln yard, and will accommodate workspaces for four new pottery program assistants. Moving those classes to the new facilities will allow for additional yoga, gallery space and poetry and creative writing instruction in the historic mansion.
“It will be transformational for the neighborhood, for greater DeKalb County,” shared Warren. “It will allow Callanwolde to do so many more things with the underserved … I’m really excited to get shovels in the ground.”
Echoes Arts ATL review from Cullum's Notebook
Atlanta News First featured the Callanwolde veterans program that is creating community through a jewelry-making class designed for those who have served our country.
"Callanwolde raises $7M to grow arts education, community programs"
Rough Draft Atlanta
Expansion and renovation efforts will have a direct, positive impact on Callanwolde’s ability to grow community engagement programs that support underserved communities.
An opportunity to be a 'regular teenager'
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center's program reaches out to teens new to the U.S. Full story coming soon.
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center opens its doors to veterans with needs
"...they really are saving our lives or saving us from becoming homeless because we’ll just wander out in the streets and give up,” said Lawson. “They’re saving us. Sometimes, we just want to have a purpose and go somewhere they care.”
Georgia fine arts center working to make arts accessible to those in need
“It is an amazing place to go. You can learn how to do art, do sculptures, go on adventures, and sing too,” said 8-year-old Alyssa Walker."
"Callanwolde Fine Arts Center to host inaugural Salsa Night"
Good Day Atlanta
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center is helping beginners and dance lovers alike learn a new skill with its first-ever salsa night.
Sensory Santa makes the holidays magical for Georgia kids
Some families will be able to watch their children meet Santa for the first time, in a way that is designed to make their child feel safe- that is magic too.
