Stone Mountain Trail crosswalk art starts with residents

In DeKalb County, planning for Stone Mountain Trail crosswalk art isn’t happening in a design studio alone. People who use the trail every day are shaping what’s to come, too. Through the Connecting Communities Stone Mountain Trail Project, Georgia State University students are using an approach called participatory design, working with area residents to co-design crosswalks and trail markings along a five-mile stretch from the Avondale Estates MARTA station to Clarkston. Perimeter College art students painted this crosswalk mural at Market and Vaughan streets in Clarkston in April 2023, work that led to the plan for Stone Mountain Trail crosswalk art. (Courtesy Fernando Rochaix) Connecting Communities projects that the crosswalks could cut vehicle speeds by up to 20% and increase trail use by 30% within the first year. How did the Stone Mountain Trail project begin? Several years ago, the city of Clarkston contacted the Department of Fine Arts at Georgia State’s Perime