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Next spring, Goat Farm will power LOOP, a seven-acre arts and technology project at historic 665 Marietta St. Developed with Georgia Tech Arts, the West Midtown site will mix artist studios, performance spaces, and tech-infused installations just steps from the Ferst Center For The Arts and Science Square, with doors open to both campus and city.
For Georgia Tech Arts strategist Birney Robert, LOOP reflects a larger goal years in the making: helping Georgia Tech play a bigger role in Georgia’s creative industries. The university has launched new degree programs that unite art, design, and technology; explored ways to transform campus-owned sites into creative spaces; and met with community partners to ensure those spaces serve Atlanta’s broader arts scene. Together, those efforts revealed a shared need: a place where creative research can move beyond campus and connect directly with the public.
“LOOP is a great opportunity to bring research outside of the lab and classroom and into a space that’s more accessible,” Robert says. “We want faculty, staff, and students to know this is where they can bring projects to life and where the surrounding community can encounter them.”
LOOP also aligns with Georgia Tech’s vision for the Creative Quarter, a planned innovation district that will connect the campus, Science Square, and the surrounding Westside into a hub for arts, design, and emerging technologies. The activation at 665 Marietta serves as an early test site for what that district could become: a place where creative industries, researchers, and local artists share ideas and space. The project also brings together a varied group of collaborators, including MALL//STAYNER Architects (lead design partner), Anava Projects (international arts consulting), JJLA (live-event production), and Asha Advisory (local partnerships).
Read in full at RoughDraft Atlanta
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