What I’m Watching: Arts, Agriculture, and Education in Augusta & Across Georgia
One of the questions I’m anticipating most is: What’s actually happening right now in Augusta and across Georgia that gives you hope?
The answer is simple — a lot, especially at the intersection of arts & culture, agribusiness, creative placemaking, and public education. Below is a snapshot of recent developments shaping our local economy, our schools, and our shared civic life.
Augusta & the CSRA: Local Momentum Matters
Hands-On Learning That Works
The AgLab Institute has been recognized with a nomination for Children’s Education Business of the Year, highlighting its innovative, hands-on approach to agricultural education. Programs like chick-hatching labs and student-run mini-markets show what’s possible when learning is experiential, relevant, and connected to real life.
Telling Our Own Stories
Through Urban Pro Weekly, local writers and creatives are documenting Augusta’s arts scene, Black culture, and community innovation. Local storytelling isn’t just media — it’s infrastructure. It shapes how residents see themselves and how the rest of the state sees us.
Supporting Small Business & Innovation
Downtown Augusta recently welcomed Accelerate Augusta, a new incubator and microenterprise center designed to support entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses. This kind of investment helps keep ideas, talent, and jobs rooted right here in the CSRA.
Placemaking on a Big Scale
Construction continues on the New Augusta Arena, a $250 million investment that will host sports, concerts, and community events. Large-scale projects like this shape how people experience a city — and how a city grows around them.
Arts Education as a Public Good
Augusta is also home to John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, serving grades 6–12. It’s a strong reminder that arts education isn’t extracurricular — it’s essential to student development, creativity, and long-term success.
Georgia Statewide: Building the Pipeline
Agriculture as Education
Across Georgia, agricultural education programs are teaching students about food systems, land stewardship, sustainability, and leadership. These programs connect rural and urban students alike to careers that matter — and to the land that sustains us.
Supporting Rural Students at Scale
A partnership between the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education has supported more than 17,000 rural students across 64 districts, strengthening workforce readiness and innovative learning opportunities statewide.
Arts Powering the Economy
A recent study from the Georgia Council for the Arts shows that nonprofit arts organizations play a major role in economic development, community vitality, and quality of life across Georgia — reinforcing what many communities already know firsthand.
Southeast Georgia: Regional Leadership & Collaboration
Beyond Augusta, Leadership Southeast Georgia initiatives are bringing together educators, agricultural leaders, and civic stakeholders across counties like Bulloch, Screven, Bryan, and Effingham. These efforts emphasize collaboration, workforce development, and shared regional growth — values we need more of, not less.
Institutions That Anchor Us
Finally, institutions like the Morris Museum of Art continue to serve as cultural anchors, offering exhibitions, education programs, and public events that connect Augusta to the broader story of Southern art and identity.
Why This Matters
Taken together, these updates tell a clear story:
Augusta and Georgia are already doing the work.
Our challenge — and our opportunity — is to connect these efforts, support them with smart policy, and ensure that innovation in education, agriculture, and the arts reaches every neighborhood, rural and urban alike.
That’s the kind of future I’m running to help build.
Sources & Further Reading
AgLab Institute recognition: Growing Augusta / Facebook
Urban Pro Weekly coverage: https://www.growingaugusta.co
Accelerate Augusta: Augusta Technical College
New Augusta Arena: City of Augusta / public project documentation
Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School: Richmond County School System
Georgia agricultural education: Farms.com
Rural student innovation partnership: Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Arts impact study: Georgia Council for the Arts
Leadership Southeast Georgia: Grice Connect
Morris Museum of Art: https://www.themorris.org