Each Atlantan makes up an integral piece of their community. It’s in that spirit that 25th Century Games launched a community art project to inspire peace — piece by piece.
“There’s this divisiveness that’s just kind of worked its way into our society and I think there’s a lot of tension, a lot of people being split on sides of things,” said Chad Elkins, organizer of ATL Community Piece Project and founder of 25th Century Games. “We are all one community and in this together. If we are not doing everything we can to help all of us out, all of us to do better, then what are we doing? It’s also symbolic in a way that a puzzle is a bigger picture made up of smaller pieces and as a community, that’s what we are.”
Elkins wanted to do a community-supportive project that fit within his business’ wheelhouse.
“The idea that bubbled up is putting a puzzle … taking a fun piece of art and using that as the focal point to rally people together to then do some good,” Elkins said. “We teamed up with Kyle Brooks, who is an amazing local artist. He got excited about the campaign and the concept behind it, and went off and created the piece of art we are using, which is called ‘The Puzzling Pointy People.’”
“The Puzzling Pointy People” is a brightly colored painting featuring “people” of different colors and sizes, coming together under a fun, paint-splotched sky.
“He really paints the world he inhabits. Everything, even the letter signs, it’s so entirely personal for him and I think that comes through with this piece,” said Dave Coustan, communications lead for the project.
Elkins discovered Brooks while living in the East Atlanta Village neighborhood.
“I always thought his art was really fun. It’s very vibrant from a color perspective, and all the characters and shapes he uses, they’re different and eye-catching,” Elkins said. “This is a project about people, no matter what your race and gender, anything, this is about people in all shapes and colors and sizes coming together to support one another.”
The art piece is being turned into a puzzle, an art print and a print on canvas. Proceeds from the purchase of each will go to support the organizations the Atlanta Community Piece Project plans to benefit.
Proceeds from the puzzle and print sales will benefit four Atlanta-area nonprofits: the Atlanta Community Food Bank; LifeLine Animal Project, which manages both the Fulton and DeKalb County animal services shelters; Historic Oakland Foundation, which oversees the Oakland Cemetery; and 48in48, a group that builds websites for 48 nonprofits in 48 hours.
“We obviously want to raise as much money as we can for these organizations … but also, I would hope at some level, even if you don’t want to donate your time or your money to this campaign, I’m hoping it inspires people to really in a much broader sense find a way to come together,” Elkins said.
To purchase a puzzle or art print, visit https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/atl-community-piece-project-puzzling-pointy-people by July 11.