ArtsXchange spotlights southside in 2nd annual South Fulton County Invitational

Fairburn-based sculptor Etienné Jackson to open solo exhibition June 6  

By Angela Oliver | ArtsXchange Media ArtsXchange welcomes sculptor Etienné Jackson for its second annual South Fulton County Invitational, an exhibition series that affirms some of the region’s most compelling artistic voices that continue to shape the cultural fabric of Atlanta.

The 2026 invitational features Inward: A Meditation on Memory and Presence, a solo exhibition by Jackson, a Fairburn-based artist whose abstract wood, metal and mixed-media works explore memory, ancestry, transformation, and the enduring relationship between past and present.

The opening reception will be from 3-5 p.m. June 6 in the Jack Sinclair Gallery at ArtsXchange, 2148 Newnan St. in East Point. It will close with an artist talk from 3-5 p.m. July 11. Sinclair Gallery is free and open to the public from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Created in 2025, the South Fulton County Invitational serves as an annual platform for artists whose work expands and enriches the cultural narrative of metro Atlanta. From Outkast to Kevin Cole to Charity Hamidullah, the southern side of Fulton County has been home to generations of visual artists, makers, and storytellers. 

“Artists working in South Fulton County are producing work of extraordinary depth, rigor, and vision,” said Sinclair Gallery Director Richard Washington. “The Invitational creates space for those artists to be seen, celebrated, and engaged on their own terms.”

While born of the need to challenge the region’s deficits – decades of underfunding, lack of media exposure, exclusion from national conversations about Atlanta’s arts landscape and future – the invitational has become a way to center the Southside’s vibrance and value.

Through the invitational, the South of Center Experience in 2025, Forward Together East Point film screenings last month, and other creative placemaking, ArtsXchange continues to strengthen the visibility of Southside artists and position the area as one of metro Atlanta's most vital cultural destinations. 

“We’re committed to supporting artists whose work demonstrates originality, discipline, and a distinct point of view outside the dominant visibility of Atlanta’s urban center,” Washington said. 

Washington selected Jackson for this year's invitational because of the strength and maturity of his sculptural practice.

“Jackson has developed a deeply personal visual vocabulary over time, remaining steadfast in his direction rather than following trends or expectations,” Washington said.

Drawing inspiration from the histories of the African Diaspora, nature, geometry, and spiritual symbolism, Jackson said Inward “tells the story of my own family lineage of makers and builders while engaging broader questions of inheritance, identity, and collective memory.”

Works below by Etienné Jackson