Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our virtual event today! In case you missed it, you're in luck—we recorded everything so you can enjoy the wonderful presentation. A huge thank you to the City of Atlanta Community Improvement Grant for making this event possible! Donate today to help us create more events like this one.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68JDMPB_CGE

Special thanks to our host and moderator Sara Keith, our host and moderator, the director of the Atlanta School of Photography, whose mission is to make photography fun, affordable, and accessible to all Atlantans! Sara has always believed that anyone with a camera can be a photographer—they just don’t know it yet. Her hope is to continue the legacy of her grandfather (a photographer), the photographic community, and the arts culture of Atlanta.

We proudly welcome our guest speakers:

Staci Catron, the Cherokee Garden Library director at the Atlanta History Center. She recently published a book, Seeking Eden: A Collection of Georgia’s Historic Gardens, which highlights the importance of historic gardens in Georgia’s past as well as their value and meaning within the state’s 21st-century communities.

Tom Little, the director of historic preservation at Surber Barber Choate + Hertlein Architects and the founding president of the Georgia chapter of Docomomo, a non-profit organization dedicated to the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the modern movement. Tom received the Advocacy Award of Excellence in 2018 from Docomomo for his work related to one of the buildings we'll be talking about today among others in the Atlanta area.

David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, whose mission is to promote the preservation of Atlanta's architecturally, historically and culturally significant buildings, neighborhoods and landscapes through education and advocacy.

A few quick tidbits about our secret garden and our iconic bank building, taken from our existing Walking Tour online.

In 1925 Landscape Architect W. L. Monroe bought 13 acres on North Boulevard. He built a plant nursery called Monroe Gardens, which was popular as a gathering place for Atlantans. In 1937 part of Boulevard was renamed Monroe Drive. Of the many buildings Monroe built on the property, only few remain: an outdoor fireplace and square-dance floor plus a chapel, fallout shelter, and rock wall, which reside on the grounds of the Ansley-Monroe Villa townhome community.

The former Trust Company Bank Building, now Cirque Daiquiri Bar: “Atlanta’s Finest All ’Round Bank” opened for business in the early 1960s as a branch of the Trust Company Bank. The futuristic round building was designed by the late Atlanta architect, Henri Jova, who also designed the Carter Center and Colony Square, one of the first developments to combine residential, hotel, office, and retail space in one complex. The bank’s interiors were spectacular, with marble finishes and avant-garde furnishings from Eero Sarinen for Knoll and Herman Miller, selected by interior designer Virginia Bowen, then a head designer at Atlanta’s Ivan Allen Company. In March 2018, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, thanks to the Georgia Chapter of Docomomo’s efforts for more than ten years.

We deeply appreciate the commitment of our special guests! Please visit their websites to learn more.

Atlanta School of Photography

Atlanta History Center: Cherokee Garden Library

Atlanta Preservation Center

Docomomo Georgia