Our History
The Early Days (2017)
The Bakery was born in the Fall of 2017 in the form of a multi-faceted arts complex located at 825 Warner Street in Southwest Atlanta. The 23,000sf warehouse was first built in the 1940s as a commercial bakery nestled between the neighborhoods of Adair Park, Capitol View, and Oakland City. The space was founded by and based on a lifetime of ideas by mother-daughter duo, Willow H Goldstein and Olive Hagemeier, alongside the various volunteers who flocked to the project. What unified us then, and now, is the belief that art is pivotal to existence.
Doing the Damn Thing (2018)
These early volunteers became guiding lights in the formation of The Bakery, both as a physical space and as a concept. These volunteers grew into staff, art administrators, peer facilitators, event managers, and community ambassadors. Together we transformed a barren concrete box into a lively studio complex with various multi-use performance and art venues. We hosted live music, contemporary movement, drag shows, theatre, educational programs, late-night dance parties, and countless other projects and passions. For almost three years, 825 Warner Street served as a hub for collaboration, experimentation, learning, and play.
Finding Our Momentum (2019)
By 2019 we were on a roll. A team of facilitators, ambassadors, community managers, and programmers had solidified and the demand for what we offered was high. Our collective ideals and ethics guided our programming and our consulting team took on offsite programs and projects.
With the help of arts advocate Randy Beavers and Culture Lab Consulting, The Bakery moved into a project space above ground at Underground Atlanta while it was under the ownership of WRS. As with 825 Warner St, a complex originally built as a commercial bakery, the team elected to keep the name New Square but give it new life. The building was a 10,000 SF playground that had previously been a clothing store, a sporting goods store, and a restaurant.
Expanding to a Halt (2020)
New Square was a jump toward reengaging with Downtown and was set to be a stopgap between our exodus from 825 Warner St and our journey to whatever was next. In the early months of 2020, as we began to fill our now expanded campus - stretching from SW Atlanta to South Downtown - with innovative and collaborative programming, we were also gearing up for a fundraising launch to help us transition into a more adult version of Bakery. Even with rising rents, we were determined to keep the dream alive. We had a packed spring events calendar and we were full of optimism. And then the pandemic hit Georgia and we shuttered 825 Warner St for good on March 15, 2020. The full vision for New Square was never realized.
A Global Pandemic (2020)
In the midst of preparing for our third, decidedly most exciting, and final spring at 825 Warner St and gearing up for new adventures at New Square, COVID-19 took a world tour and halted life as we knew it. We closed our doors in mid-March and waited like so many others. Our lease at 825 Warner Street was set to end in June 2020 and it quickly became clear that The Bakery as we knew it would never exist again. We collectively shuttered, sheltered in place, and tried to recontextualize our lives without our central purpose: to create, hold, and host space for people to gather, celebrate, and feed their souls. Our lease at New Square expired in November 2020.
Playing in Uncertain Times (2021)
We didn’t think we’d make it out of 2020 to be honest. The Bakery had no income and the pandemic didn’t seem to have an end in sight. We were all questioning how we wanted to spend our time and what our new futures might look like. Yet, thanks to creative partnerships and generosity, we were able to secure two new spaces. At the start of 2021, we provided studio spaces at Jefferson Station, part of the historic Wagonwheels and Buggyworks campus located in East Point. We also moved into a South Downtown retail storefront previously operated by MINT Gallery on Peachtree St SW. We co-produced an art show in January 2021, happy to be entering a new year with two new spaces.
At The Bakery East Point we were able to provide affordable studio space to 15+ artists and collectives throughout the year. Sadly, we had to move out of this space after our lease ended in early 2022.
At The Bakery South Downtown, we started to host a range of programming in 2021 including solo and group exhibitions, workshops, and small-scale events. We continue to activate this space today!
Building our strength (2022)
In 2022, we ramped up programming in our South Downtown Gallery and focused on rebuilding Bakery’s main strength - its team. We hired a Programming Manager, reinstated our Gallery Team, and continued our internship program. The Bakery team also worked on several offsite projects including community art and civic engagement initiatives.
Selling Out: The Bakery Goes Legit (2023)
The Bakery is officially a 501(c)(3) nonprofit as of 2023. This change allows us to be eligible for more grants and eventually seek institutional funding. We are excited to continue working at the intersection of art, education, and the environment while building better digital systems for artist resources. Through new partnerships, we hope to broaden the scale and scope in which we work, taking on new challenges to encourage Atlanta to be forever playful.
Keep Atlanta Forever Playful.
The Bakery South Downtown continues to offer a 1,000 SF white wall gallery for local artists, community rentals, and small-scale events. We are proud to be sponsored by the Arts & Entertainment Atlanta as part of their 2021-2022 Grant Cycle.
We have also embarked on a large-scale fundraising and awareness campaign, not only in support of a new space to call home but also in hopes of restoring a vibrant, creative ecosystem right here in Atlanta, GA. DONATE AND SHARE TODAY.