Education

The Art of Showing Up

At Whitefield Academy, students are discovering that creativity has a way of bringing people together. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Provided by Whitefield Academy The children at Tillman House know that when the Whitefield Academy art students arrive, something fun is about to happen. There may be paint. There may be paper. There may be face painting, craft supplies, or ceramic piggy banks. More than anything, there is the joy of older students sitting beside younger ones, helping...

Style + Beauty

Making a Statement

At Statement Boutique, Kim Smith helps women find style, confidence and connection in Smyrna Market Village. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Inspire & Co. Media (Amanda D’Souza) There are shops you walk into because you need a dress, a gift, or something pretty. And then there are places you walk into because they make you feel a little more like yourself. For Kim Smith, Statement Boutique was that kind of place long before it was her business. After her husband, Chuck, passed away...

Arts + Culture

Discovering Our Local Street Art

Take a closer look at the local murals transforming everyday spaces into breathtaking art pieces. Article and Photography by Ashley Putnam The Smyrna, Vinings community features a vibrant, ever-growing art scene where creativity flourishes in unexpected places. Everyday utility boxes, fire hydrants, and brick walls are increasingly alive with brilliant color. If you search online for “murals in Smyrna,” search engines claim there are none, but local residents know better. Hidden in plain...

Education

When Art Opens Doors

Artportunity Knocks uses creativity to help young people discover confidence, purpose and possibility. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Provided by Chris Woods It started with three students in a two-bedroom apartment. Chris Woods and his wife, Ty, had not moved to Georgia with a plan to launch a nonprofit. They simply saw a need. They wanted to create a safe place where teenagers could gather on Friday evenings — a place with encouragement, positive relationships and room to belong. ...

Home + Design

Where Home Becomes Art

Komar Luxe brings a resort-inspired approach to real estate, design and building — creating homes that feel personal, polished and entirely your own. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Provided by Komar Luxe There is a certain kind of home that feels like a deep breath. Not because it is oversized or overly polished, but because everything seems to work together — the light, the layout, the finishes, the outdoor spaces, the quiet sense that someone considered how it would feel to live...

Arts + Culture

Smyrna, in Full Color

Meet seven artists bringing joy, identity, memory and imagination into the public spaces we share. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Provided 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...

Education

What is the Oenophile Institute?

Where Atlanta Comes to Learn Wine: Welcome to The Oenophile InstituteTucked on the second floor of Smyrna Village Market, just up the stairs from Vineyard Wine Market and a few minutes from The Battery, there is a room that used to be a ballet studio. Today the mirrors have been traded for maps of Burgundy, and the barre has given way to rows of tasting glasses. This is The Oenophile Institute, and it has quietly become the metro Atlanta home for anyone who has ever looked at a wine list and...

Health + Wellness

The Smilingest Show on Earth

At Schwartz Dentistry for Children, imagination and trust help young patients feel right at home. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Brandon Carter The first clues appear before the appointment even begins: a circus tent over one doorway, a cheerful ticket window near the front, a giraffe painted on the wall, and a sweeping mural that seems to bring the whole space to life. Then there is the sign declaring, “The Smilingest Show on Earth.” At Schwartz Dentistry for Children, these...

Local Services

Where the Horses Lead

At 7 Oaks Stables, families are finding connection, confidence and a peaceful place to simply be. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Ashley Putnam There are some places that ask you to slow down the moment you arrive. At 7 Oaks Stables, it may happen as you pull through the gates and see horses grazing across the green hillsides. Or maybe it happens when a child reaches out a tentative hand and discovers, sometimes to their own surprise, that they are braver than they thought. For...

Local Services

The Hardy Girls and the Case of the Happy Pets

Liz and Ali Hardy bring familiar faces, trusted care and lots of love to Smyrna pets. Article by Stacey Scott | Photography by Provided by Liz & Ali Hardy Liz and Ali Hardy have always been animal people — the kind who notice the dog at the party before the people, and who understand that pets are family members with routines, quirks, favorite toys, preferred snacks and opinions about where they like to nap. In many ways, pet sitting found them long before they made a business of it. Both...