Bahamian Visual Artist Lillian Blades and American Arts Educator Meisha Card responded to the city of Atlanta’s call for an urban farm design in designing a state of the art multilevel elevated urban farm they hope will serve as a center for sustainable farm education and a source of inspiration for individuals from all walks of life worldwide.

On August 24, 2011, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed along with City of Atlanta Officials, the University of Georgia and Wal-mart Representatives announced an Urban Farm Design Competition to transform 0.8 acres of land located directly across from City Hall into a thriving demonstration farm. The farm would be a key component in the City of Atlanta's Power to Change sustainability plan.

Education and Community Involvement are at the heart of everything associated with Card and Blades’ urban farm design. As a visual artist, Blades envisioned a farm sculpture and added beautiful curves that took the design to another level artistically ensuring that the design would not only be a place of agricultural education and discovery but a work of art. Blades designed a vertical farming gate, vertical farming sculpture and interior assemblage artwork, educational kiosks and mosaic picnic tables for the farm design that would make use of recycled and sustainable materials.

They enlisted the help of The Epsten Group and Breedlove Land Planning to bring their design to life and they collectively entered the competition as Team Elevate. The team name is synonymous with the farm design and the sentiment they hope to evoke as it relates to fostering elevated thinking and living through sustainable farming practices, education and community service. The state of the art farm design is a work of art and features the latest in water harvesting and solar energy technologies, a restaurant, welcome center, amphitheater/ out-door classroom, indoor classroom, farm plaza and 5 levels of farming deck that will be used to demonstrate a wide range of farming methods. The one of a kind design would undoubtedly put Atlanta on the map for urban farming, serve as a physical symbol of Atlanta's elevated thinking when it comes to sustainable farming and will serve as a model for other cities to follow throughout the world.

Bahamian Artist Lillian Blades