Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery
The 1990s were a time of creative ferment in Atlanta.
The 1996 Olympics put the city on the world stage, and arts leaders wanted to prove it could compete with other metropolitan scenes. William Lawless says he and his friends, including the late painter Woody Cornwell, journalist Marshall Avett and Georgia Trend Publisher Ben Young, wanted to create an outlet for experimental, challenging art – the edgy, unconventional stuff – so they founded the nonprofit eyedrum.
Silver Anniversary: eyedrum threw a party on November 11, 2023 to commemorate 25 years.
“It was [before everybody used the] internet, so things were done differently,” recalls Lawless, now eyedrum’s board chair. “Artists had to carry around their work on slides to try to promote themselves. There was a lot of real estate speculation but a real vacuum – not enough DIY art spaces. It was very hard for artists to get recognition if they were not doing commercial work.”
The nonprofit, which celebrated its 25th birthday in November 2023, has evolved from rowdy upstart to stalwart institution, incubating talent and launching dozens of careers while enriching the local quality of life.
“Our mission is to support local and international artists as they advance the boundaries of art through explorations of contemporary art and new media,” says Lawless. “Many organizations have come and gone because of our influence, but we’ve lasted because we stick to our original mission and vision.”
Early programming emphasized visuals and music, but more recently the organization has made inroads in the entertainment community, adding filmmaking classes, and planning additional classes in script writing and film-score compositions.
“An early goal was to make this art accessible,” Lawless says, “so we always had a policy of just accepting donations at the door – whatever you could afford. Or nothing, if you couldn’t afford it. We leave room for magic.”
