Meet Midtown Green Staffer and Artist Charles Pittard
Pittard helps keep the district beautiful by day, and creates beautiful artwork by night.
Published: 03/03/22
Charles Pittard is an artist, actor, poet and Midtown Green's newest staff member.
BY ELLIE HENSLEY
Charles Pittard is keeping Midtown beautiful by day, and creating beautiful artwork by night.
He is the newest member of the Midtown Green team, Midtown Alliance’s operations and maintenance team, which works daily to create a cleaner, safer and better Midtown. Pittard heard about the job through another new Green team staffer, Ronald “Jay” Parker, who has kept in touch with them since the two worked together years ago at Manuel’s Tavern.
“[Midtown] is a great place,” Pittard said. “I was looking for something that had benefits and a philosophy. And when I met the gang here, I felt really good.”
Pittard has landscaping experience that dates back to high school, but his true passion lies in the arts. Read more about his creative practice and see some of his artwork below.
Adventures in Acting
Pittard pursued a liberal arts degree at the University of Georgia, but left after two years to go to acting school in New York City and lived there for most of the nineties. He acted in off-Broadway plays, and went to the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and the Sanford Meisner Center.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, Pittard decided to leave New York and return home to Georgia.
“My family is here, everyone is from here, and I just hadn’t been home in awhile,” he said.
"Box of Prayers," a mixed-media piece by Pittard that is part of his Ant Farm collection.
A Surge of Creativity
Pittard has been drawing and painting for as long as he can remember, but during the pandemic he felt a surge of creativity unlike anything he had felt in years. While others were baking sourdough bread and trying their hand at home renovation, Pittard wrote a book of poetry. After his cup of coffee in the morning, he would also get out his camera or his paint brushes and work on his “ant farm.”
“Antworks” is a series of photographs and mixed-media designs featuring ant-like figures Pittard draws interacting with the world.
“I like drawing and painting them,” he writes in a description on his website. “Putting them inside of their own colorful ‘ant farm’ where, like us, they have their everyday ups and downs. I like to take their picture. Then they show me other dimensions and complexions of the world, always surprising me. Always very much alive, like us, in their own life and death struggles.”
Pittard also likes to photograph Atlanta neighborhood and landmarks, including Cabbagetown, the Clermont Hotel, the Majestic Diner and — of course — Waffle House.
“I don’t want to come across as pretentious, but [art] is a thing that I feel a compulsive need to do inside,” he said. “It’s not always fun because sometimes you get stuck on a piece and you’re trying to find a breakthrough. It is work. But I love the work; I just love it.”
"Valentine's Day,"a photograph by Charles Pittard
Explore Ant Farm ATL
Pittard works on commission and often gets referred to clients through his connections in the Atlanta art community. He also sells his art on on his website, as well as on Society6, where he offers merch like iPhone cases and water bottles in addition to prints.
Follow Pittard’s Instagram to see his latest works.
Did You Know?
Midtown Green crews work a combined 400 hours per week to keep the district looking sharp. If you see something broken or out of service, call them at 404-817-0500, including when:
- Street lighting is damaged or is not working properly
- Sidewalk obstructions are preventing safe pedestrian passage
- Trash, trees or other obstructions need to be removed from the public right-of-way
- Graffiti needs to be removed
