Art Abounds on Beltline, and Kickoff Parade will be Packed

It's official: The most striking new Art on the Atlanta Beltline installation is in fact not a massive ode to Steve Urkel. Standing beneath Freedom Parkway, the 12-by-20-foot piece is a collaboration by artist William Massey and Church on Street called "The Art of Reconciliation," which took 200 people from seven states the entire summer to assemble and paint. It's built of "abandoned junk and broken materials from the streets of Atlanta" — everything from tires to keyboards to blue jeans — and modeled after the face of a guy named Tony. The piece is one of many new installations along the Eastside Trail, where the sixth-annual exhibition's official kickoff — the Atlanta Beltline Lantern Parade — starts at 8:15 p.m. Saturday night. Officials expect "large numbers" and extremely limited parking along the two-mile trail. They're encouraging walking and biking to the parade and reminding Atlantans that two MARTA stations (Midtown and Inman Park/Reynoldstown) are within a few blocks of the event.