This Atlanta Artist Is Creating A Space For Creativity, Healing, And Empowerment
Kelly Freespirit is on a mission to shift the art culture with The Garden of Maat
When you think about an art exhibition, you probably envision a gallery filled with beautiful drawings, paintings, photos, and sculptures. While that is the very thing that an art exhibition encompasses, imagine it going a step further to become an oasis for healing and empowerment. This is exactly what artist and curator Kelly Johnson, better known as Kelly Freespirit, created with her recent all-women exhibition, The Garden of Maat. On August 19, 2024, Future Gallery in Underground Atlanta was transformed into a world of creativity, healing, self-discovery, and empowerment. The walls were adorned with the powerful works of over 20 talented Atlanta-based visual artists, and the gallery was blessed with the beautiful words of women poets and speakers, dance performances, a yoga session, and sound bowl healing. The dress code for opening night of the exhibition was all white to provide a spiritually cleansing atmosphere.
During her process of planning this exhibition and healing experience, Kelly’s grandmother passed away, which then became a source of motivation and inspiration for her to truly step into the role of curation and community activist. Her grandmother was very community oriented so Kelly felt like the torch was passed to her to walk the path that her grandmother paved. Kelly also shared with us that for her, “the most rewarding aspect of creating The Garden of Maat was witnessing all of the women come together. It was a celebration of sisterhood and felt like an ancestral calling that manifested beautifully. We all understood that we were coming together for a greater purpose. My art centers around health and wellness and as women having each other to be vulnerable with is deeply healing.”
The Artist Talk and closing of the exhibition provided an intimate space to connect with the featured artists. Each artist discussed their artistic journey, studio processes, and the inspiration behind their featured works. The beautiful thing about this artist talk was the fact that each artist displayed a level of vulnerability in speaking about their inspiration. Though each featured piece looked different and was unique to its creator, there was a common theme of a journey through a challenging or introspective time. Listening to each artist discuss their work allowed for a deeper insight and experience in viewing the art. It’s always easy to walk up to a piece and see a pretty picture, but knowing about the inspiration and process allows one to appreciate the work so much more.
This is the first of many curated exhibitions for Kelly, as she plans to make The Garden of Maat a quarterly experience, with the opening to be held during the evening of a full moon. While the inception of The Garden of Maat was an all-women exhibition, Kelly plans to have one of the future exhibitions be an all-men’s exhibition. Looking beyond the quarterly exhibitions, her long-term goal is to expand The Garden of Maat into an art gallery and healing center by collaborating and partnering with other women who share the same mission. Kelly wants to shift the culture in the Atlanta art community by providing an art space owned, operated, and empowering for women. She feels that this is the balance needed because, despite having opportunities as a woman, it still stands that many of the galleries are currently male-owned and operated. Above all, Kelly tells us that “in the future, [she] looks forward to The Garden of Maat growing as more men and women come together to share their [creative] gifts.”
