Camille Russell Love: ‘Atlanta’s cultural community shouldn’t always be on life support’

The City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024.

For more than half of its existence, Camille Russell Love served as executive director, making her the longest-serving person in a leadership position at City Hall.

Love recently announced her plans to retire by the end of the year, and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said a national search would be conducted to find her replacement.

For Love, the time had come. As of July 1, she will have been with the City for 26 years. And she will be 75 years old on January 19, 2025.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to serve Mayor Dickens for a second term, and I knew I wasn’t going to work for another mayor,” Love said in a lengthy interview.

In a statement announcing her retirement, Dickens said, “Ms. Love served the people of Atlanta with the utmost integrity and character. His creativity and vision have played a pivotal role in improving the perception of cultural and performing arts in our community.

Love moved to Atlanta from North Carolina in 1974 after being in town during spring break. It was a pivotal moment for the city of Atlanta, which had just elected Maynard Jackson as its first black mayor.

“When Maynard was running, it became a calling to move to Atlanta,” Love said. “If you want to be part of something big, come to Atlanta.”

That was the same year that Michael Lomax, then a research director and special assistant to the new mayor, and Shirley Franklin worked with Jackson to see how the city could further support the arts and cultural community.

“Maynard came in and said it was part of his plan or agenda that the city be more engaged in the arts,” Franklin said in a telephone interview. “Michael and I formed a committee made up of people from all areas of the arts. I chaired this group. The key was to have an office that would be both artist and institution focused.

The group of about 50 arts leaders asked the city to create an office of cultural affairs that would focus on artists as well as cultural institutions, according to Franklin, who chaired the group. Robert Shaw, the legendary music director and conductor of the Atlanta Symphony, addressed the Atlanta City Council.

“The arts community has really embraced the idea,” Franklin said. “It was an idea whose time had come.”

Lomax, who later chaired the Fulton County Commission and is now head of the United Negro College Fund, eventually became the first director of the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs in 1974.

Franklin followed him to the post in 1978, the year the city launched the first Atlanta Jazz Festival. She then served as chief administrative officer for Mayor Andrew Young during his two terms. Then, in 2001, Franklin was elected mayor, serving from 2002 to 2010.

After moving to Atlanta, Love embarked on a corporate career. After a brief stint at Southern Bell, she worked for 15 years for IBM. She then opened Camille Love Gallery, first downtown, then in Buckhead.

When Bill Campbell was elected mayor, he finally convinced Love to join his administration as director of cultural affairs.

Love said she grew up in a family of civil servants. His father was an executive in Winston-Salem’s municipal government and school board, and his mother was a schoolteacher.

“Public service is in my DNA,” Love said of why she joined on July 1, 1998. “This role has allowed me to have a greater mission.”

Love had a unique perspective on how Atlanta has evolved culturally.

“I’ve seen arts organizations change their programming and boards to become more diverse,” she said. “It’s rewarding. I saw the city change in appearance. The business world is now interested in arts and culture. Businesses recognize that having a pleasant environment helps them attract employees. Yes, we are a sports city, but we have also become a cultural city.

Love has seen this spirit translated to the people who call Atlanta home.

“Atlanta is a place where you can be whoever you want. It’s a free zone,” Love said. “The cultural environment helped make this happen. »

But Love finds it frustrating that there isn’t more investment in the arts.

“Many people, businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs make money in Atlanta. They make money here because it’s now a cultural center,” she said. “Atlanta’s cultural community should not always be on life support. There’s not much the city government can do.

Part of the problem is the lack of public funding for the arts. According to the National Assembly’s ranking of state arts agencies, Georgia ranks last in per capita funding for the arts – just 0.14 cents per year, compared to number one Wisconsin with a per capita expenditure of $11.08.

“We live in a state where those who make the laws and allocate the budgets want their residents to be unhealthy, unhoused, uneducated and uncultured,” said Love, known as a straight shooter and pragmatist.

Mayor Franklin remembers Love serving as director of cultural affairs during his administration.

“Camille has had an incredible career growing the cultural and artistic direction of this city,” Franklin said. “She really needs to be applauded for her service.”

Franklin, who helped mentor Mayor Dickens and countless others, said now may be a good time to take an in-depth look at arts and culture in the city.

“The model we initially developed was a one-size-fits-all model. It needs to be reassessed periodically, at least once every ten years, to see where we are and what we are trying to accomplish,” said Franklin, who added that he

now a greater appreciation of how the arts contribute to economic development. “The arts bring people together. This is part of growing the city as smartly and efficiently as possible.

Much of Love’s duties as director include organizing the Atlanta Jazz Festival, which just held its 47^th festival over Memorial Day weekend.

“The Jazz Festival has its own legacy,” Franklin said. “It’s a flagship event for the city.”

The city of Atlanta has allocated $500,000 to the 2024 Jazz Festival, which reimburses the city for all expenses, such as security, like any other event.

For years, the city hosted two jazz festivals per year. The Montreux Jazz Festival was held on Labor Day weekend.

“After 2008, when the economy collapsed in a basket, we had to decide what to do. The city couldn’t have two festivals,” Love said. “We decided to stick with the festival that bore our name.”

Love, however, said the work was much bigger than organizing a jazz festival. This involves awarding grants, coordinating classes at the Chastain Arts Center, funding public art commissions, producing the Elevate Arts Festival, collaborating with the Atlanta City Council, working on legislation, and supervise a staff of 20 people as well as the annual budget.

When asked if the person who replaces her should be familiar with Atlanta, Love quickly responded: “Absolutely. Because Atlanta is complicated.

She then described other qualities important to get the job done.

“The city should be looking for someone who is versatile, someone who knows how to dance because you have to do a lot of dancing,” said Love, who mentioned that she was a ballerina when she was little. “It should be someone who understands government, someone who knows how to solve problems, because you’re going to have problems all the time. You must be a decision maker. You cannot be self-centered. You have to be culturally curious. And you have to be comfortable in all environments, with everyone.

And this is coming from the woman who has done this job for almost 26 years.

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