Expertise & Professional Qualifications
Supported by the Cabbagetown Initiative (CI) Board of Directors and a network of participating artists, the principal team behind Forward Warrior has extensive history in planning & implementing public art installations, as well as achieving personal creative goals that complement their individual contributions to the project’s success.
Consistency & Stability in Management
Representing diverse professional and personal backgrounds, the organizers provide steady guidance and internal consistency to the yearly goals of a safe and nurturing environment for both the emerging talent and the dedicated career artists who comprise the Forward Warrior Mural Project.
STAFF BIOS
Founder / Curator – Peter Ferrari
Project Director – John Dirga
Event Coordinator – Austin Blue Richardson
Peter Ferrari
Founder & Curator Peter Ferrari is a self-taught artist from Atlanta, Georgia. He majored in Sociology at Emory University, and received his M.Ed. from Loyola University. He worked several years as a certified Montessori teacher.
In 2011, Peter started the Forward Warrior project at Melvin Gallery, and in 2017 opened Facet Gallery in the Old Fourth Ward.
Ferrari has completed several large scale exterior mural commissions for municipal and corporate clients.
Recent Awards:
Creative Loafing – “Best Advocate for the Arts” (Best of 2017)
APAB 2017 “Neighborhoods Matter Partner” Awards
ArtsATL 2017 Luminary Awards – “Catalyst Award for Social Discourse”
John Dirga
Project Director John Dirga is an artist, musician, and dedicated community activist. Raised in St. Petersburg Florida, he attended Georgetown University, and moved to Cabbagetown in the mid-90’s, founding a non-profit arts center focused on creating economic opportunities. A long-term board member of CNIA (Cabbagetown Neighborhood Improvement Association), DIRGA serves as Secretary of NPU-N, and since 2004, Music Director for the wildly popular Chomp & Stomp Festival (a Class C Festival with over 20,000 people, and three performance stages). JOHN helps organize the Brookshire Concert Series, Cabbagetown Reunion, and Stacks Squares Mural Project. Chair of the Wallkeepers Committee for Cabbagetown Initiative, DIRGA has participated in transforming the CSX Wall from blight to blank to brilliant; visioning, fundraising, grant-writing, and recruiting volunteers.
Austin Blue Richardson
Event Coordinator Austin Blue Richardson is an Atlanta-based artist, illustrator, and painter. A renowned designer, and community-arts activist. BLUE studied Photography and Illustration at City College of San Francisco. As Director and Curator of the popular Stacks Squares Mural Project installation at the Fulton Cotton Mill, he has coordinated and organized the seasonal rotation and queue of over 50 local artists, assisting emerging artists implementing their first public works, and collaborating with established muralists on cooperative pieces. BLUE has extensive experience in all aspects of public art, from neighborhood outreach, to grants, & government contracts; including MARTA, City of Decatur, and Elevate!, where his 2018 commission transformed S.W.A.T.S. House, a partnership with T.I. & City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs in Southwest Atlanta.
