CORNELIA, Ga. — When the 12 panels of Brushstrokes of Change: Stories Transform Into Landmarks are unveiled Saturday, artist and project manager Audrey Davenport hopes visitors see more than a mural.
She hopes they see themselves — or someone they know — in the people, places and stories that shaped Cornelia’s historic Black community.
The official mural dedication and unveiling is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, at Mr. Jim Smith Park, 562 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Cornelia. The event will include a panel-by-panel unveiling and an opportunity for community members to share memories connected to the people and landmarks represented in the work.
Davenport said the project grew from the idea of collective memory and from her sister Doris’ poetry collection, Soque Street Poems. One poem, “Connect These Bones,” speaks to how people in the community are connected, she said.
“Everybody that comes here is going to be connected to somebody on these panels,” Davenport said.
The connections appear in both the subjects and the design, she said — through people’s proximity to one another, complementary clothing designs and links from one panel to the next. A relative, neighbor or familiar figure may appear in a different panel than the person a viewer first recognizes.
The mural project began after a grant was awarded in August 2025. Although the project’s formal grant process was completed by June, the physical panels continued to take shape over the following months.
“The whole process has been overwhelmingly emotional,” Davenport said.
One panel depicts the school building that once stood on the site. Davenport described it as Cornelia’s first regional college school, part of the community’s segregated school system before the equalization school was built. She used historic photographs of the building and included people with direct ties to its history, including her mother, who graduated from the school in the mid-1940s.
Each panel was designed around a significant structure or a person connected to the community’s past, Davenport said. Her research included historic photographs, personal connections and stories shared by local residents.
Saturday’s program will also recognize the grants that helped make the project possible. Davenport said Georgia Council for the Arts Executive Director Tina Lilly is expected to attend and discuss the Vibrant Communities Grant for rural communities. The city also received a Red Clay Creative Cohort Grant, one of five awarded statewide, she said.
After the outdoor unveiling, attendees will gather at Shady Grove Baptist Church’s multipurpose room to watch what Davenport calls “collective memory” videos. The videos include residents reflecting on Miss Sally’s cafe and its importance to the community, as well as a video of Davenport’s sister reading her poem.
Davenport said she hopes people in the crowd will help tell the stories represented in each panel — whether they recognize a person, remember a building or have a connection to a former school bus driver or neighbor.
“Do you know someone on this panel that you can give us a little bit of history about?” she said she plans to ask those attending.
The city of Cornelia has supported the project throughout its creation, Davenport said, including by giving her studio space at the Ballard Center.
The dedication is free and open to the public. Mr. Jim Smith Park is located across from Shady Grove Baptist Church.
