Carla Contreras, a painting graduate student, had the opportunity to paint a mural at the esteemed The Shops Buckhead under the Buckhead Loves Locals program for their Spring into the Shops event.
In collaboration with SCAD Art Sales and The Shops Buckhead, Contreras planned and painted a design that she had developed for a SCAD Pro course over winter quarter. She said, “In recognition of the vertiginous growth of Atlanta and the multicultural diversity that holds it together, my mural is a celebration of our transcultural city.”
Contreras continued, “I am from Ecuador, my husband from Brazil, our Jack Russell from South Carolina, and we love Atlanta. We want to contribute to its growth with our art, thoughts, our skills, our identity and our lifestyle. This is my drive as an international artist living and producing art here.”
Transculturalism is defined as seeing oneself in the other. Transcultural is in turn described as extending through all human cultures or involving, encompassing or combining elements of more than one culture.
Contreras believes that the reason why Atlanta thrives is due to the convergence of very different cultural backgrounds, ideologies, life experiences, realities, languages and knowledge. “No matter where we come from, we all contribute to the development of the city we live in, and my mural is a celebration of that,” she added.
