Some works of art ask us to step inside a quiet gallery. Others meet us exactly where we are—on the way to morning coffee, walking into a favorite neighborhood business or simply passing an intersection we have traveled a hundred times before.
Across Smyrna, once-ordinary surfaces are becoming something more. Utility boxes burst with flowers and movement. Murals turn blank walls into landmarks. A sidewalk becomes an invitation to stop, look down and imagine what might be possible.
That is the beauty of public art. It does not wait for an audience to find it. It becomes part of a community’s everyday rhythm, quietly changing not only how a place looks, but how it feels.
The seven artists featured here arrived at their creative practices through very different paths. Some call Smyrna home, while others have contributed their talents to the city’s growing public-art landscape. Their styles range from whimsical illustration and expressive abstraction to bold typography, spiritual symbolism and enormous, light-filled murals. Yet each shares a belief that art belongs where people live, work and gather—and that a little creativity can transform the way we experience the spaces around us.
Zoya Aly
For Zoya Aly, a wall is never merely a wall. It is an opportunity to create connection, awaken a memory and give a community something it can proudly claim as its own.
The Atlanta-based muralist and multidisciplinary artist earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, graduating cum laude from Georgia State University in 2025, where she is now pursuing her Master of Fine Arts. Her multicultural upbringing informs a style pairing bold, contemporary imagery with delicate textures inspired by henna, textiles and folk-art traditions.
During Smyrna’s 2026 Brush & Box Fest, Zoya painted Duck, Duck, Lemonade, bringing a playful burst of summertime color to the Village Green. Her growing portfolio also includes an official 2026 FIFA World Cup commemorative lapel pin commissioned by the City of Doraville and artwork licensed for Habitat for Humanity International’s Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project.
Whether working across a wall or within the tiny dimensions of a lapel pin, Zoya creates with the same purpose: to inspire wonder, belonging and shared pride.
Connect: @zoyathecreatrix
Ryan Coleman
A scribble may appear spontaneous and fleeting, but in Ryan Coleman’s hands, it becomes something worth preserving.
“The scribble represents a spontaneous gesture at the inception of an idea,” Ryan explains. “I love the idea of freezing that gesture, memorializing it as a constant reminder of what’s possible.”
That sense of possibility runs throughout the Smyrna artist’s work. Ryan combines the visual language of traditional cartoon animation with gestural abstraction, producing paintings, sculptures and large-scale installations that feel playful yet purposeful.
After earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Atlanta College of Art, Ryan worked briefly at Cartoon Network before moving to New York City, where he spent eight years as a studio assistant to renowned pop artist Jeff Koons. Today, his work can be found in collections including the High Museum of Art, Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines.
His next canvas brings that experience home. Ryan is creating a 675-square-foot sidewalk mural for the Shops at Belmont, scheduled for installation in September at Atlanta and Windy Hill roads—turning the beginning of an idea into something Smyrna will soon be able to walk across.
Connect: ryancolemanstudio.com | @ryancolemanstudio
Leah Kellaway
For Leah Kellaway, illustration and design are both forms of storytelling—and every project begins with a pencil.
The Atlanta-based mixed-media illustrator, muralist and designer spent a decade working as a graphic designer before founding Kellaway Creative. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Georgia and a Master of Fine Arts in Illustration from the University of Hartford, Leah brings a strong design foundation to work filled with portraiture, texture, bold shapes and vibrant color.
Her Smyrna projects include Brush & Box Fest and a utility-box wrap at South Cobb Drive and Church Road. As Paint Love’s mural manager, she has also created projects for schools and nonprofits across metro Atlanta, including Cultivating a Culture of Peace at Decatur High School and Mental Health Through the Lifespan with Cobb Collaborative.
Her illustrative portfolio ranges from a John Lewis postage-stamp concept to a richly rendered series of The Wizard of Oz movie posters—proof that meaningful stories can unfold across an entire wall or within a single printed image.
Connect: kellawaycreative.co | @kellawaycreative
Lacey Longino
Long before Lacey Longino began covering walls with flowers, color and light, she was a little girl learning to paint hydrangeas in her grandmother Rosemary’s garage studio near Lake Rabun.
Her other grandmother, Barbara, painted too, creating in a backyard greenhouse filled with artwork, books and inspiration clippings. Surrounded by artists—and encouraged by a mother who believed children should go outside or make something—Lacey grew up understanding creativity as a natural part of life.
After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Georgia State University, Lacey developed a mixed-media style rooted in flowers, family photographs, nostalgia and the idea of home. Her public work has since expanded dramatically. Grounded in Your Light, her 6,101-square-foot mural at The Upton in Atlanta, even inspired a short documentary following its creation.
Calling herself a “light tracker,” Lacey studies the shadows cast by trees and architecture, incorporating them into site-specific designs. Her recent Smyrna work includes a mural at StillFire Brewing and an original Brush & Box Fest piece painted entirely with brushes in only a few hours.
No matter the scale, her purpose remains constant: bringing joy into the spaces people share.
Connect: laceylongino.com | @laceyclongino
Ashli Ognelodh Curry
Ashli Ognelodh Curry does not view art simply as something she creates. For her, it is a calling—and a vessel for faith, healing and transformation.
The multidisciplinary artist works across traditional painting, mosaic tile, large-scale murals and immersive sculpture, using bold color and spiritual symbolism to explore identity through the lived Black experience. Women frequently stand at the center of her work, portrayed with vulnerability, strength and reverence.
Ashli’s Smyrna contribution, The Spirit of Joy, brings that mission into public view on a traffic utility box near Concord and Atkins roads. Her murals can also be found in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Montego Bay and at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport.
Among her most distinctive creations are interactive prayer chairs that activate when someone sits in them, transforming the viewer from observer to participant. Her work A Seat at My Table was acquired by the New Orleans African American Museum—a fitting home for art created to ensure that identity, history and healing are not only seen, but deeply felt.
Connect: aoartwork.com | @ashliognelodh
Elaine Stephenson
Before “Artsy Elaine” covered buildings with joyful colors and encouraging words, Elaine Stephenson spent a decade building a career in graphic design.
The Atlanta native studied design at the University of Georgia, developing a love of typography, strategy and bold visual communication. When she launched her own mural business, those professional skills became the foundation for a creative voice that was much more personal.
Drawing from her experiences with anxiety and depression, Elaine creates bright, optimistic work intended to help people notice the beauty in life. Smyrna holds an especially meaningful place in that journey. Her first public-art project was a painted recycling bin created here in 2018. She later painted one of the city’s electrical boxes and returned in 2026 with the delightfully groovy Disco Cat for Brush & Box Fest.
Elaine has now completed more than 50 murals across Georgia, including a 4,000-square-foot parking-garage entrance at Atlantic Station, where she serves as an artist-in-residence.
From a recycling bin to thousands of square feet of concrete, her goal remains wonderfully consistent: transforming spaces from bland to beautiful while leaving those who encounter them feeling a little brighter.
Connect: elainestephenson.com | @artsy_elaine
Haley Vaughn
Haley Vaughn’s first career was also built around translating ideas into a visual language. She simply did not yet realize where that ability would eventually lead her.
After earning a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Georgia, Haley worked for several years as a middle-school American Sign Language interpreter. The work was meaningful, but something creative was missing.
She began drawing seriously in 2020 and enrolled at the Savannah College of Art and Design two years later to pursue a second bachelor’s degree. In 2026, Haley graduated as salutatorian of SCAD Atlanta.
Her colorful, whimsical illustrations now span children’s programming, murals, animation, advertising and surface design. Here in Smyrna, Haley created Catch a Falling Jonquil, the playful utility-box mural at Spring Road and Jonquil Drive near Rev Coffee. She has also designed posters for The Lavender Bookshop and works for the City of Smyrna as a historic building supervisor.
Beyond Smyrna, her projects include an Atlanta mural for fintech company Payroc and surface designs featured during the 2025 SCAD Fashion Show. Now a production designer helping create children’s programs for national brands, Haley has transformed her natural ability to communicate visually into a career filled with warmth, humor and imagination.
Connect: haleyvaughn.com | @haleyvaughnart
Smyrna’s public art does more than add color to a wall, sidewalk or utility box. It captures a moment in the city’s story—and invites every person who passes by to become part of it.
Together, these seven artists remind us that creativity can grow from a childhood memory, a leap of faith, a difficult season, an unexpected career change or even the first loose scribble of an idea. Their work may look entirely different, but each piece leaves something behind: joy, reflection, connection and a renewed sense of possibility.
So the next time a familiar corner catches your eye, pause for a moment. Look a little closer. Somewhere beneath the color is an artist’s story—and another small piece of the community Smyrna is continuing to become.