{"id":295329,"date":"2026-05-01T18:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T18:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/295329\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T18:48:09","slug":"illumine-2026-event-hosts-local-artists-raises-funds-for-oakland-cemetery-the-southerner-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/295329\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018illumine\u2019 2026 event hosts local artists, raises funds for Oakland Cemetery \u2013 the Southerner Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bright lights, art and live entertainment overtake Oakland Cemetery for a select time each spring. Attendees join together to celebrate the historic space, while raising funds through its event, \u201cillumine<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, illumine took place on April 16\u201319 and April 23\u201326. According to Oakland Cemetery Senior Director of Programming and Volunteers Sandy White, the event helped showcase local art while providing exclusive visitor experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018illumine\u2019 is our spring after dark arts event, where we invite local artists to create site-specific artwork for Oakland Cemetery,\u201d White said. \u201cIt\u2019s a unique way to explore and experience the cemetery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proceeds from illumine go towards restoration and beautification projects, including plant installation and site preservation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Oakland Cemetery is so old, there are very few families that still take care of their ancestors\u2019 plots,\u201d White said. \u201cWe\u2019re also a City of Atlanta park, but the city has a lot of priorities in its budget. Basically, all funds raised go to making sure that we can maintain the cemetery, everything from planting tulip bulbs and native trees to repaving roads and restoring walls.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event specifically raises money for the Historic Oakland Foundation (HOF). White attributes much of the event\u2019s success to HOF\u2019s dedicated volunteers.<\/p>\n

\u201c[HOF\u2019s] volunteers are the backbone of our organization,\u201d White said. \u201cMost everyone that works the event is donating their time and doing it with incredible enthusiasm and care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteer Nicola Pasquarelli believes illumine acts as a tribute to older traditions, while inviting newer generations to visit the cemetery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always volunteer because I like to talk to everybody and get to see who\u2019s coming in and visiting us, and share how beautiful this is,\u201d Pasquarelli said. \u201cWe encourage people to come and have picnics because that\u2019s actually what they used to do back in the Victorian times. People would come and visit their deceased loved ones, so we carry on that tradition now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"ILLUMINATING LIGHTS: The event, illumine, curates art from local artists in Atlanta, featuring sculptures, lighting installations and more. (CREDIT: DV Photo)<\/p>\n

White believes illumine helps bring new perspectives to the cemetery, particularly through the lens of local artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to see the cemetery through artists\u2019 eyes, how they interpret the space and what they find important and meaningful,\u201d White said. \u201cIt always helps me to find new ways to appreciate this unique and historic space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cillumine\u2019 partners with Cat Eye Creative<\/a>, a gallery in Atlanta, to curate artists for the event. This year, illumine features art<\/a> by Vanna Black, Marcia R. Cohen, Jordan Graves, Christiana Kwan, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Eddie Farr, Daniel Phelps, VAYNE and Fabian Williams. White believes the variety of art helps display Atlanta\u2019s diverse artist landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually try to feature several light-specific installations, like this year\u2019s interactive LED sculptures from [Farr] and a projection mapping animation on Oakland\u2019s gate by [Phelps],\u201d White said. \u201cHowever, we have artists that work with all sorts of mediums, including [Kwan], a painter and well-known muralist, and VAYNE, a graffiti artist who has now done two 3D scenic pieces at illumine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event also features lighting installations from the Neon Company<\/a> and projections from Atlanta Downtown\u2019s MAP Rover<\/a>. According to White, these installations serve several purposes, including visitor safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cemetery from 1850, [so] there are not a lot of lights within the 48 acres,\u201d White said. \u201cAs you walk through illumine you\u2019re staying on lit pathways, for us to curate the experience but also to keep you safe. You encounter beautiful monuments illuminated with colored lights and trees that cast atmospheric shadows as much as they are highlighted as a type of sculpture themselves. \u201c<\/p>\n

Visitor Angie Clawson believes illumine fosters a welcoming atmosphere, while displaying innovative art and performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing the headstones at night gives you a totally different perspective than seeing it in the daytime,\u201d Clawson said. \u201cIt [brings] this fun, interesting edge to things. I also enjoy that they have music, and people can just sit and relax. It\u2019s a very peaceful place, cemeteries are in general, and so having that opportunity to sit, listen and enjoy the atmosphere is really interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

White believes illumine helps attract new audiences through Atlanta\u2019s community of artists and art enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want Atlantans to really see themselves represented in Oakland Cemetery, which is tough to do considering how diverse Atlanta\u2019s culture is,\u201d White said. \u201cBut an event like illumine helps to create bonds with a different part of our community that might not want to come to our history tours or a garden walk. Art lovers can be cemetery lovers, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bright lights, art and live entertainment overtake Oakland Cemetery for a select time each spring. Attendees join together…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-295329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}