Key Takeaways
- Atlanta is set to open several new and renovated venues for arts and entertainment in 2026 and 2027, solidifying its position as a premier destination for culture and entertainment.
- The city’s upcoming openings include the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Molly Blank Center for Opera, the Goizueta Stage for Youth and Families at the Woodruff Arts Center, the Centennial Yards megaproject, and the renovated Fernbank Museum.
- These new venues will offer a range of cultural and entertainment experiences, from opera and theater performances to immersive art exhibits and concerts.
- The openings are expected to have a significant impact on Atlanta’s cultural and economic landscape, attracting visitors and boosting the local economy.
- The city’s investments in arts and entertainment infrastructure demonstrate its commitment to providing a vibrant and diverse cultural scene for residents and visitors alike.
Introduction to Atlanta’s New Venues
Atlanta is poised to become an even more vibrant cultural and entertainment hub with the opening of several new and renovated venues in 2026 and 2027. According to William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city’s renovations and new developments reinforce its role as one of the country’s premier destinations for arts and entertainment. The upcoming openings include the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Molly Blank Center for Opera, the Goizueta Stage for Youth and Families at the Woodruff Arts Center, the Centennial Yards megaproject, and the renovated Fernbank Museum.
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia is set to open its new home in mid-2026, a 26,306-square-foot facility at the Goat Farm Arts Center in West Midtown. The new building, designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, will feature a reading room and library, five gallery spaces, and a cafe that opens out to a sculpture garden. The museum’s president, CEO, and director, Annette Cone-Skelton, notes that the new location is ideal, given its proximity to the High Museum and several educational institutions. The museum has amassed a permanent collection of roughly 1,600 artworks and a sizable archives collection, and the new facility will provide much-needed space to showcase these works.
The Molly Blank Center for Opera
The Atlanta Opera will get a new permanent home in 2027 with the opening of the Molly Blank Center for Opera, located along the Atlanta Beltline in Buckhead. The 56,000-square-foot complex will include a 200-seat recital hall, theater venue, film studio, educational areas, rehearsal space, and administrative offices. The center is named in honor of the mother of Arthur Blank, co-founder of The Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons, who was known for her philanthropic spirit and dedication to the arts. The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation contributed $27.5 million to the opera’s comprehensive fundraising campaign.
The Woodruff Arts Center
The Woodruff Arts Center will open the new Goizueta Stage for Youth and Families on January 28, a 300-seat theater dedicated to family and education programming for the Alliance Theatre and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The stage is part of a grander vision funded by a $67 million capital campaign launched in August 2024. The transformations also include the sleek Reid Family Lobby and the new PNC PlaySpace, a free, experiential learning center that will allow children to play, create, and engage with themed programming six days a week.
Centennial Yards
The $5 billion, mixed-use Centennial Yards megaproject in downtown Atlanta will include two new entertainment venues: a 5,300-seat concert venue by Live Nation and an immersive theater called Cosm. Cosm is a three-level, 70,000-square-foot, planetarium-style venue for shared reality experiences, featuring an 87-foot, 12K-resolution, LED dome that immerses audiences in virtual sports and entertainment experiences. The company aims to open its Atlanta venue in 2026 before the World Cup games. Another cornerstone of Centennial Yards’ entertainment district, a Live Nation concert venue, is slated to open in 2027.
Fernbank Museum
Fernbank Museum is undergoing a $27 million renovation, its biggest upgrade since opening in 1992. The new Orkin Discovery Zone, set to open in summer 2026, will be a permanent tactile exhibit focusing on how science, nature, and human culture affect each other. The museum will also replace "A Walk Through Time in Georgia" with the new permanent exhibition "Changing Earth" by the end of 2027, which will focus on the planet’s changing elements over time. Additionally, a new 3,000-square-foot gallery will open for temporary, rotating exhibits, and accessibility improvements will be made in 2027, including the addition of a new ADA-compliant elevator and ADA-accessible doors from the garden level to WildWoods.
Conclusion
Atlanta’s new and renovated venues will offer a range of cultural and entertainment experiences, from opera and theater performances to immersive art exhibits and concerts. The city’s investments in arts and entertainment infrastructure demonstrate its commitment to providing a vibrant and diverse cultural scene for residents and visitors alike. With its unique blend of southern charm and urban sophistication, Atlanta is poised to become an even more attractive destination for cultural enthusiasts and entertainment seekers. The openings of these new venues are expected to have a significant impact on the city’s cultural and economic landscape, attracting visitors and boosting the local economy. As the city continues to grow and evolve, its cultural and entertainment scene is sure to remain a major draw for years to come.
