Sweet Auburn Heroes Walk

The Sweet Auburn Heroes Walk is an ongoing commission in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, a nationally significant cultural district with a deep legacy of Black leadership. In partnership with Sweet Auburn Works, who are facilitating a community advisory group, we are designing a comprehensive wayfinding and interpretive system that includes 12 commemorative totems, street pole banners, window wraps, logo design, and other interpretive streetscape elements. The Heroes Walk guides visitors through the neighborhood’s history while commemorating key figures from its past. Our work integrates archival research, historical writing, and design development to make visible the neighborhood’s history while creating inspirational content that remains relevant to community building today.

The design process balances bold, contemporary visual treatments with layered historical depth, incorporating photography, graphics, and typographic elements that orient and engage the public in active, street-level spaces. Developed alongside JIMA Studio’s broader landscape initiatives, the signage serves as both wayfinding infrastructure and interpretive storytelling, guiding visitors along a coherent route while contributing to the neighborhood’s revitalization. By weaving research, community collaboration, and design execution, the project demonstrates how interpretive wayfinding can honor heritage, orient visitors to place, and inspire dialogue about Sweet Auburn’s future.