On Thursday, August 20, the Macon Arts Alliance, the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI), and the Macon-Bibb Urban Development Authority celebrated the unveiling of a new public art piece, Medicine River, in East Macon. The art piece can be found on the corner of Schell Avenue and Main Street, inside the Northwest corner of Bicentennial Park.

It was installed near the DeWitt McCrary House, which will one day serve as home to the Muscogee (Creek) Cultural Center. It was created by Muscogee (Creek) artist Starr Hardridge alongside local collaborators Randy Heart and Tanner Coleman. Funding for the project was made possible through an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with matching funds provided by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.

“Medicine River seeks to heal land by the joining of hands that bind the diverse communities of Macon, GA and Mvskoke communities in Oklahoma”, said Hardridge. “Through traditional art practice we connect directly with land and acknowledge the ancestral peoples that came before us. Kinship to land, water and animals is the legacy that is carried on by Mvskoke descendants to this day. In ancient times our tribal towns were connected by the Ocmulgee River. In that same vein, I believe that art is the river that can connect and heal humanity. Art is love and love is medicine”.

Macon Arts Alliance Executive Director Julie Wilkerson added, “Starr, Randy, and Tanner have created a work of art that resonates with all of us—both the Nation that was removed from this area and Central Georgia’s present and future residents.”