Meet Phil and Laine Proctor | South River Art Studios creators

We had the good fortune of connecting with Phil and Laine Proctor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Phil and Laine, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
As artists working in metro Atlanta, we found ourselves in the same position as many other artists we knew; we would find an affordable warehouse or studio, it would be great for a while and then we would be edged out by rising real-estate values and development. We were forced to move, my personal studio (Nucleus Sculpture Studio) numerous times around southeast Atlanta, always due to the continuing development in the city. It is a huge undertaking to relocate a large-scale sculpture studio. Despite the frustrations of moving, it did give us the opportunity to grow each time we moved. Our last move was one from the old GM plant in Chosewood Park to our current location at South River, although it hadn’t officially become South River Art Studios just yet. We had been renting our space there for a few years when the property owner expressed some interest in selling. After some serious thought and negotiation, we pulled it off. We were committed to this 4-acre, end of the road, rusty, crusty, muddy warehouse property; the perfect place for a sculptor to create. There was actually a lot more space than we needed and we felt that other artists faced similar challenges of the insecurity of reliable and affordable studio space. So, we created South River Art Studios.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our vision for South River Art Studios is to host artists in diverse mediums, artistic goals, ages, backgrounds and experiences. We felt that this rich mix would create a culture of sharing, support and cross pollination of ideas and work. We also feel that the artists learn, grow and progress from one another’s feedback and critique. Artists can explore new outlets for their work through collaboration and we strive to cultivate this type of environment. We also wanted to build a community. Not only will you find artist studios, but you will see a community experimental garden & compost station (led by Julia Hill & Chris Vanbrackle), chickens roaming the property, thriving beehives, an interactive greenhouse build with plants that sing to you inside the space (project led by Streetcat.media), Atlanta Green Theatre Alliance or #agtashed (a non-profit doing amazing work to motivate and educate, and assist colleagues in the Metro Atlanta theatre community to engage in environmentally friendly practices) and much more.
We also have gallery spaces that we donate to artists in the community to host events, exhibitions & classes.
Today we have 40 artists working, creating and thriving at South River Art Studios and we feel fortunate to be surrounded by such a creative supportive community.

We feel what sets us apart is that South River Art Studios is like a wild, farm like, nature oriented, off the beaten path type of place and many can find respite taking in the nature that surrounds us.
It is a place where you will find raw nature but also refined art and those two ideas coexist in the space…we feel that this is a neat experience.
We learn lessons everyday and we look forward to continuing to learn from others and from our experiences.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would definitely make the first stop at South River Art Studios so that they could visit with some amazing Atlanta artists & Atlanta Green Theatre Alliance Shed to experience their work & hospitality up close & personal.

We are all about food so here is the breakdown of places that we would eat:
-East Atlanta for one of the best burgers & fries at The Earl.
-Food goodness at We Suki Suki.
-Coffee and Jamaican patty at Hodgepodge Coffee House
-Thai food takeout from Spoon Eastside
-Catered lunch by personal chef Ilene Rouamvongsor @ilenerouamvongsor (also caters weekly lunches at South River Art Studios)
-Sit on the patio at Victory Sandwich Bar and enjoy some sunshine and jack & coke slushies.
-Fancy drinks & dinner at Little Bear in Summerhill.
-Grab pastries from Grace with Goodness Graceous Baking @goodnessgraceousbaking
-Pick up prison tacos at El Progreso #14

Ok, other places we would go (besides food places 🙂 ):
-Dolls Head Trail (across the railroad tracks from South River Art Studios)
-South River kayak trip Check out South River Watershed Alliance and sign up for a trip.  (southriverga.org)
-Chattahoochee river canoe trip
-Etowah river canoe trip
-explore some cool art spaces/galleries (Day and Night Projects, Mint, Eyedrum, Whitespace, Cat Eye Creative, Mason Fine Art, Atlanta Contemporary)
-listen to music at Gallery 992
-Do some vintage shopping at Mother Lode, Scotts Antique Market, Atlanta Used Furniture and yard sales.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to give a shoutout to the community of artists that make South River Art Studios as special as it is.

Website: southriverartstudios.com

Instagram: southriverartstudios

Facebook: southriverartstudios

Other: linktr.ee/southriverartstudios

Image Credits
SRAS Greenhouse photo: credit: Maggie Kane (streetcar.media) Inside peek of artist studio photo: credit: Bijou Proctor Bee hive photo: credit: Julia Hill Found objects wall sculpture titled “Seen. Known. by William Massey photo credit: Nathalia Frykman Photography Experimental Art Exhibition by Mika Fengler titled “Alternative Memory” photo credit: Phil Proctor SRAS chicken eggs photo credit: Phil Proctor Laine & Phil Proctor: photo credit: Nathalia Frykman Photography