Project History & Mission
Forward Warrior Mural Project began in 2011 at the Melvin Gallery, and was invited to assume curatorial leadership of the Wylie Street Wall by the Cabbagetown Initiative in 2014. Previously, the wall had been curated by Samuel Parker, after a short trial run of murals in 2012 by the nascent Living Walls Conference.
The original mission of Forward Warrior was to strengthen the arts community with large format cooperative painting. As it found a permanent home in Cabbagetown, the mission has evolved to accept greater responsibility for positive messaging in a public art setting. This means promoting core values of equity, inclusion, youth empowerment, and human rights issues, including social justice, gender awareness, and the protection of vulnerable populations.
“Forward, Warrior!!” is an inspirational mantra meant to inspire and motivate. It may translate (roughly) as, “You can do it!” or variously, “Keep going!”, “Onward!”, “Let’s do this!”, or “Yes, we can!”
The mural project is volunteer-based, and supported by grants and private donations. There are a few small business donors, but sponsorship branding is limited to event activations and hospitality tents, wayfinding / print material, and a handful of discrete web buttons. There is a distinct “for artists, by artists” sentiment to the power structure that guides our administrative decisions towards focusing on strengthening the community first.
The parent organization, Cabbagetown Initiative 501c3 Community Development Corporation, was founded in 2000 to facilitate the creation of Cabbagetown Park from an abandoned school. This was originally launched with foundational support, including Arthur Blank Foundation, and a neighborhood fundraiser, Chomp & Stomp Chili Cook-off. As the organization and fundraiser grew, CI expanded its mission to include maintaining the Cabbagetown Community Center (177 Estoria Street) and other neighborhood green space (Esther Peachey Lefevre Park, Whisper Garden, and eventually the CSX retaining wall along Wylie Street 30316).
Forward Warrior is Cabbagetown Initiative’s 2nd largest event, and reflects an important commitment to the arts, prioritizing the neighborhood’s values around the message and meaning behind the muralist’s work, and shouldering responsibility for meaningful stewardship of the public spaces as Atlanta finds it easier or more attractive to use the BeltLine to visit our community.
Approximate Timeline
2000: Residents make an effort to clean up violent and offensive grafitti in Krog Tunnel with a neighbor mural project. It fails, but starts valuable discussions about street culture, art, & free expression.
2002: CNIA makes informal arrangements with APD Zone 6 Commander Major Banda to effectively designate Krog Tunnel as a “Free Wall”, ceasing to enforce certain ordinances related to “quality of life.”
2008: CNIA/CI assume maintenance of the CSX Wall, including landscaping & painting, under a funding agreement with Craig Camuso, Regional VP for State Government Affairs. An overzealous vigilante, Rodney Bowman, jumps down from a tree to assault grafitti writers Joshua Ward & Jesse Jaeger.
2010: Murals begin to appear first with Living Walls Conference, and later through the efforts of artist Sam Parker. Reynoldstown (RCIL) and WonderRoot invite Steel Wheels to tag corrugated metal fencing.
2012: Peter Ferrari launches Forward Warrior at Melvin Gallery, painting walls and fencing nearby.
2014: Sam Parker, intent on moving to Boulder, CO, invites Forward Warrior to Cabbagetown. After a local promoter advertises a masquerade in Krog Tunnel, a group of artists paint the entire tunnel grey, with the exception of a large message: “Krog is not for sale”. One week later, they install new paintings.
2016: Stacks COA & CNIA coordinate re-installation of murals along Carroll Street architectural wall, “Stacks Squares”, which were buffed beige after a brief experiment with children’s murals in 2008.
2017: CNIA secures additional CSX funding for lighting prototypes and pedestrian safety initiatives.
2018: Forward Warrior pursues additional funding, grants, sponsors, and submits official permits for an annual block party to accompany the mural painting, facilitated by the Cabbagetown Initiative.
2019: The Eastside Beltline trail is completed from Lake Avenue to Memorial Drive. Forward Warrior partners with Georgia Vintage Goods market to create an artist vendor area in Esther Peachy Park .
