BeltLine Mural Brightens Park Bridge

When they were students at , Atlanta artists Hense and Born (who requested we not use their real names) spent time beneath the Park Drive bridge at Piedmont Park.

"We used to skip school and come hang out under this bridge," Born said Monday.

Now, the two artists are underneath the bridge once again. This time, they are collaborating on a massive, brightly-colored mural on the bridge, which sits on the edge of Piedmont Park near the dog parks and behind . 

"It just gives it a facelift," Hense said of the circa-1916 bridge. "It's amazing what color does."

The mural is one of 66 projects commissioned for "Art on the Atlanta BeltLine," a public art program in its second year along the 22-mile loop. Artists began installing their projects at the end of July. 

The mural on the Park Drive bridge, which is not yet titled, blends geometric shapes, paint drips and bright curves. The artists are using more than 30 gallons of paint and have spent up to 12 hours a day painting the bridge. They expect to finish the mural this week. 

"We are using a lot of spontaneity as we go along," said Hense, who painted murals on the Virginia Avenue and Ralph McGill Boulevard bridges for last year's Art on the BeltLine.

"We are really trying to focus on color and line," he said. "We knew it would be pure abstraction."

Art on the BeltLine will be displayed or performed from September to November. The schedule soon will be released.

Last year's "Art on the BeltLine" was the largest public art display ever put on in Atlanta. More than 270 visual artists, performers, musicians and historians participated. Among the projects, murals were painted underneath bridges and sculptures dotted the trail.