We Love BuHi and Dashboard U.S. proudly announce BuHi Lights, a temporary art installation on Buford Highway featuring large-scale illuminated inflatables illustrated by four female artists of color. Funded by a Play Everywhere Challenge grant from national nonprofit KaBOOM!, the exhibit will be installed in Doraville’s Pinetree Plaza, owned by Halpern Enterprises.
The idea for BuHi Lights was originally conceived during the 2017 Buford Highway Livable Centers Initiative, funded and adopted by the Cities of Chamblee and Doraville with the Atlanta Regional Commission. BuHi Lights complements the BuHi Walk, a safe pedestrian pathway connecting Buford Highway’s suburban shopping centers with public art and amenities depicting the area’s cultural diversity. Implementation of the BuHi Walk began last year with a mural collaboration between We Love BuHi and Atlanta-based public art nonprofit Living Walls.
The goals of BuHi Lights are to encourage play in everyday spaces, catalyze more pedestrian activity through the corridor, support local immigrant-owned businesses, and create a striking visual signature for the street.
We Love BuHi Founder and Executive Director Marian Liou stated: “Pinetree Plaza is such an important site for Buford Highway’s transformation into the multicultural community we know and love. As we think about this community’s future, we’re thrilled to partner with Dashboard to share its stories and cultures in a joyful way, and to engage and excite our youngest generation in the process.”
“It’s important to us to make public art free and easy to access,” Dashboard U.S. Executive Director Beth Malone said. “It’s been our pleasure to partner with We Love BuHi and four incredibly gifted artists to create surprising moments of inflatable joy on Buford Highway.”
Our company’s roots are on Buford Highway,” said Halpern Executive Vice President Carolyn Oppenheimer. “Halpern purchased Pinetree Plaza in 1965 and it was the location of our corporate office for nearly 50 years. We have witnessed the power of community to build Buford Highway into a wonderfully diverse corridor, and we are thrilled to support We Love BuHi and Dashboard to bring together this art exhibit celebrating the area’s vibrant character.”
The installation is expected to commence in late October and will reside in Pinetree Plaza for one month. A community workshop for local students will take place in October at Cary Reynolds Elementary School in Doraville. The exhibit’s opening day celebration is scheduled for Saturday, November 3, with a children’s fair from 4-6 p.m. and a lighting ceremony at sunset.
The project features Dashboard and an additional four female artists: Atlanta-based Mónica Campana, In Kyoung Chun, and Dianna Settles and Birmingham, Alabama-based Chintia Kirana. The children’s fair will feature family-oriented interactive activities and arts and crafts workshops. Spaces at the children’s fair are available for sponsors and community organizations.
We Love BuHi is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that creates connection, belonging, and ownership within Buford Highway’s multicultural community through storytelling, art, and design. For more information about We Love BuHi, visit welovebuhi.com.
Dashboard U.S. is an experimental creative agency that specializes in human-centered design and arts-forward projects to improve the livability of public spaces. For more information about Dashboard, visit dashboard.us.
Halpern Enterprises is a privately held commercial real estate firm, specializing in retail leasing, management, acquisition and development. Headquartered in Atlanta, Halpern owns and operates 24 properties in the metro area, including three along Buford Highway. For more information about Halpern Enterprises, visit www.halpernent.com.
For more information about BuHi Lights, visit welovebuhi.com/lights. For information about sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, please contact Marian Liou at marian@welovebuhi.org or 404-547-1349.