Midtown Atlanta construction fencing aims to be artistic, for once

Boring construction perimeter masked by 600-foot hand-drawn mural at Opus Place

By Michael Kahn Jan 23, 2017, 11:02am EST

A hand drawn black and white sketch of a serene scene with trees, people, and birds. — A hand-drawn section of the fencing.

With construction projects filling dozens of blocks in Midtown, chainlink fences shrouded in black cloth have become a ubiquitous, unsightly reality.

But with the fencing around the site slated to house the second-tallest building in the city, the design team decided to bring a bit of whimsy to the usually utilitarian site protection.

The team at Opus Place tapped artist Schin Loong — a former Atlantan — to tell the story of Midtown through her eyes. What resulted is a mural stretching more than 600 feet around the site at 14th Street between West Peachtree and Peachtree streets.

Loong’s work marks the construction site for a new residential tower, No2 Opus Place, and it’s a welcome departure from the banal norm.

According to the artist, the mural is intended to capture the cultural life of Midtown through a calligrapher’s pen. The “light-hearted illustrations” employ music as a means of signalling enjoyment, with musicians playing instruments, birds chirping, and even a dog singing along to the urban symphony as sketch figures go about their lives

The illustrations are a welcome sight, considering it’s unclear exactly how long the fencing will be up.

Work began last month erecting a temporary steel building on the site, but it’s still unclear what the timeline of construction on the 72-story condo tower will be—if it indeed moves forward.