Newsletter | November 19, 2025
In this week’s Voices:
- Double your donation by supporting Canopy Atlanta today!
- “What’s Work” tells the story of passion beyond daytime gigs that pay the bills
- Want to get involved with our work? Join us Dec. 4Send your feedback about this newsletter to hello@canopyatlanta.org.
Immanuel Laidlaw is a talented artist: a photographer and documentary filmmaker. He is also a first-generation college graduate who overcame homelessness and launched his own organization. He knows what it means to create art while working a job to pay the bills.
Those are the facets behind Immanuel’s latest creative endeavor, “What’s Work,” an exhibit and workshop that centers artists who work a 9-to-5 job but also make space for their art. These artists spend time behind the scenes: coordinating exhibitions, managing programs, writing grants, or teaching art history. But when 5 p.m. hits, they turn to their other passions, turning break room tables into easels and transforming conference rooms into their personal critique spaces.
Let's be real—these are the people who make the art world actually work, Immanuel says. They're answering emails about exhibition logistics while mentally composing their next piece. They're processing gallery rentals by day and creating mind-blowing paintings by night. They're teaching art history while quietly making it in their spare bedroom–turned–studio.
With his exhibit, featuring four artists and numerous workshops, Immanuel aims to flip that narrative, celebrating the wonderfully chaotic double life of administrative and academic professionals who somehow manage to be the backbone of the art world and amazing artists when nobody's looking.
“I’m trying to center the reality that people are more than their job. Even for myself—a lot of people come up to me and try to start talking about art or start talking about homelessness…. And yeah, I’m passionate and committed to these things, but they are not who I am. I am more than my work.”
—Immanuel Laidlaw, Tri-Cities Fellow
Immanuel’s story from earlier this year—when he sat down with community members to talk about the impact the Dungeon family has had on Tri-Cities and East Point—remains one of our most-read stories to date.
Want to catch up on the work Canopy Atlanta is doing and share what is happening in your neighborhood? Come out for a free cup of coffee this week.
Canopy Atlanta is popping up in coffee shops around Atlanta. We’ll share our location every week in the newsletter and on social media.
📅 Thursday, Nov. 20, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
📍 Ke’nekt Cooperative: 1492 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW, Suite A, Atlanta, GA 30310
Want to work with Canopy Atlanta on our latest project? Join us for a workshop to learn more about how YOU can get involved in our community journalism.
📅 Thursday, Dec. 4, 6 to 8 p.m.
📍 CreateATL: 900 Murphy Ave SW, Atlanta, GA 30310
We'll start the evening with refreshments and conversation. Then we'll provide an overview of various Canopy Atlanta programs and projects, including When the Creeks Rise, Documenters, Community Notebook, community listening, and more.
We'll have lots of time for Q&A, and Canopy Atlanta staff, Fellows, and Documenters will be on hand to talk about the work we do. You'll leave the workshop with the tools and information you need to become a part of Canopy Atlanta.
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