MARCH 1, 2022

DEEP LOCAL IMPACT: TWO ATLANTA ARTISTS AT WORK

 Atlanta harpist Angelica Hairston is more than just a musician, although on that account she is in a class of her own. What sets her apart is her passion for social justice, in particular in how it relates to empowering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) artists. As an Atlanta youth, she was accepted into the Atlanta Symphony’s Talent Development Program. “It created a space where black musicians could find support,” she says, ”and it impacted me throughout my career.” Later, she was working on her BA at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, Canada when Trayvon Martin was killed. As one of the only black musicians in the program, and one of the only Americans, Martin’s death inspired her to ask herself what her studies meant. Challenge the Stats (CTS), her nonprofit, was born out of that moment. Currently CTS is focused on trying to bring classical music to South Fulton County and embed it into the region’s communities. “It’s an exciting time to have more of a presence in south Atlanta. It’s the perfect ecosystem for the work of CTS to make an impact, especially on children. For kids to be able to touch a violin that’s being played by someone who looks like them, it gives them a sense of what could be possible in the future.” Hairston is applying to become a 2022 SFI partner on behalf of Challenge the Stats. She wants to focus this year on a Musical Storybook Series in which school-aged children and teens would experience a reading by an author to the accompaniment of classical music–and the authors and musicians would be people of color. 

In 2019, Hairston was welcomed as one of the Institute’s artist partners and in this capacity she performed in the Grady Hospital burn unit. She describes the experience as one of the most impactful of her professional life. After her performance was over and she was starting to put her instrument away, a man approached her. It was the last day his son would be in the burn unit before being transferred to another hospital. “Will you play just one more song for him?” the father asked. Angelica moved her harp into the patient’s room and played. “It was so powerful,” she explains, “to bring music into that space of healing.” 

When you watch a documentary by Atlanta filmmaker Ethan Payne, you can’t help but be moved by the resonant, ghostly beauty of his cinematography and the way he uses music to convey the just-right mood for the subject. Lately the accolades have been pouring in. His latest work, We Travel, is a project with writer and Mississippi native Brian Foster. The short film chronicles Foster’s family history as he recounts their rural Mississippi lives, taking on the personas and voices of four relatives. It was a winner at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival and an official selection at film festivals across the country. And it’s beautiful. Payne’s work has also been featured in Pitchfork, Stereogum, Oxford American, ArtsATL, Southern Foodways Alliance, and The Bitter Southerner. His first feature-length film, The Green Flash, is currently in post-production. We asked him what motivates him. “I think stories or places I’ve never been to, or don’t know much about, are always really exciting to me.” He has produced four Filmers for South Fulton Institute.  “Filmer is an invitation into the minds and worlds of some of the most fascinating people I’ve ever had the privilege to meet - much less interview on camera and document. The creative freedom that the SFI gives when I’m putting together these documentaries is something I’ll never take for granted. It’s a gift.” Residents in South Fulton County might be able to count themselves lucky again in 2022 as Payne is also applying to once again become a SFI partner.

The work of these two artists: this is what the South Fulton Institute is all about.