We were lucky to catch up with Elijah Wade recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elijah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

One thing about our human experience is that risks are inevitable. Each day we are given the chose to mange how risky we choose to live our lives. Personally, the route I have chosen has created great opportunity for risk however, equally rewarding. In 2021, I was laid off by Amazon due to our company bankrupting. I had to vision and no plan for myself and my two children. I took a HUGE risk and unknowingly created a safe space for people to come and connect with other, using art at the medium to bridge people together. Paint N Sit ATL was born from such a risk. I had no job and n0 funds but, I did have a heart to give and serve the community. In just over two years, Paint N Sit ATL has hosted over 60 FREE art events in the city of Atlanta where anyone can come paint n sit together. We have been blessed to serve of over 10,000 and continually reaching each month. In my experience, taking the biggest leaps of faith have an unfathomed blessing on the other side.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am not originally an “artist”. I was in school to become an athletic trainer at the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick. This is where I was hired by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to create and budget cultural events for our students throughout the year. In March of 2019, we hosted our first Women/s History Paint Night, where students could come paint in our students activity center for free. We drew out a crowd of around 30/40 people and it inspired me to want to paint more often for myself. Fast forward to 2021, COVID took over the nation and all students were sent home. Returning home, I did now know what my next move would be, however I was still painting in my room and even inviting my friends over to paint with me. Through these small events at my house, I had collected over 20 pieces of art and wanted to share them with the world . I made a post on Instagram and welcomed everyone that I followed at the time to come out and paint with me in the park. I mentioned I had free paintings I would be giving out if anyone wanted met meet me outside. From there, the next weekend I brought out my painting supplies and wrote on a piece of cardboard “Free Painting Supplies”, “Come Paint N Sit with Me”. This is how Paint N Sit ATL was born. That was two years ago! In the time that has passed, Paint N Sit ATL has hosted over 60 FREE art events in the city of Atlanta and has served over 10,000 people bringing connectivity and healing to our surrounding communities. What I want people to know about Paint N Sit ATL is how much art can connect us all and to recognize how inaccessible art is in places across our country and globe. Art is a personalized tool for create expression, no matter how big or small, which is why we allow our event to be free to ALL. We have served from Elementary Schools to Senior Citizen Homes and everyone in between. Some of our notable collaborations have been with the Juneteenth Music Festival and Parade this past year. We have been in colleges like Spellman & Georgia Tech and even hosted our own Music and Arts Festival that brought out over 3,0000 people who all painted for free this past March. What sets Paint N Sit ATL from other paint n sips across the country is intention. We aren’t just meeting to paint and chill, we are meeting to connect, bond, strengthen our communities, have fun, become aware of ourselves and the others around us. We haven’t just created a dope are event in Atlanta, we created a developing tribe of consciousness that will heal collectively. We just use art as a tool for our own therapy. People could replicate this event in their own city, however vibes don’t lie. over 35,000 people have followed our journey through our social media and now we want the world to know that we want to bring this event to EVERYONE!! State to state. Country to country. We want to change this world and through art and connectivity, we will make it happen.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal behind our creative journey is to bring our free event to places and spaces where art therapy is not accessible. Not everyone has the luxury to have an event like our in their city. I see a service and a demand for that service that needs filling and I am the perfect person to make it happen. I want to host this event, almost like a tour around the country, creating therapeutic art spaces where people can come paint together. First state I want to travel to is California, my home state. The biggest issue that we do run into having a free event is funding. I work at Fedex 4 days our the week supporting myself, my wife, and our two kids so I am no rich man. The community getting behind us through their attendance and their donations is the only way for us to maintain the integrity of the event as we expand to serve over 1,000 per event.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

A way for people to support creatives is by first listening to our story and then supporting us with your views, comments, donations, interactions ect.. Creatives work hard to bring us all new and fresh content in a world where everything is demanded so quickly. As creatives, we also need community. Like the quote says ” it takes a village to raise a child,” we are all little children doing what we love and we need the support and encouragement from our peers to keep pushing along.

Contact Info:

• Website: paintnsit.com
• Instagram: Paintnsitatl
• Facebook: paintnsitatl
• Tiktok: paintnsitatl

Image Credits
Paint N Sit ATL