Atlanta Hawk To Open Art Gallery on Clairemont

Two months ago, Patch asked readers what should go into the old music store  at 115 Clairemont Ave.

Nobody suggested Atlanta Hawks player Zaza Pachulia turn it into an art gallery that celebrates the culture of his native Republic of Georgia.

That's what's going to happen, according to a report in the recent Decatur Focus magazine.

This will not be Pachulia's first business venture in Atlanta. He owns the Buckhead Bottle Bar on East Paces Ferry Road. Another restaurant he owned, the French-style bistro 5th Street Café in Midtown, closed.

Atlanta has enjoyed a connection with the Republic of Georgia for decades, since a Friendship Force exchange.

Several thousand Georgians now live in the Peach State and a group called Georgia-to-Georgia keeps has kept the relationship between the two nations alive.

The city also has plans for a smaller space next door to 115 Clairemont Ave.

The Decatur Tourism Bureau hopes to set up a visitors center and a small office for the Decatur Arts Alliance.

The city earlier planned to locate the tourism bureau in the DeKalb History Center, but that plan was dropped because the building is closed on weekends except for weddings, receptions and other events.