Midtown Artist Aysha Pennerman Helps Local Neighborhoods Tell Their Stories
12/04/2025
BY BRIAN CARR
You can catch some of Aysha Pennerman’s distinctive mural work in the Edgewood district near the Krog Street Market, in Reynoldstown, and along the Atlanta Beltline. Some of the themes she has explored range from mobilizing people of color to vote, to expressing grief and loss, to communicating the past, present, and future of an intown neighborhood.
Central to her work, Pennerman embraces the power of community involvement to surface the unique stories and themes that make a neighborhood special. She’s putting this into practice and honing her craft at a studio on the All Saints Episcopal Church campus in Midtown Atlanta, where she is participating in Midtown Alliance’s artist residency program.
We sat down with Pennerman to talk about her background in creative placemaking, the story of how she found her calling, her recent experimentation with mixed media, and the very special mural project she’s creating next spring in Midtown. Read more.
Harnessing Connection
On most afternoons, the rhythm of Midtown Atlanta hums softly outside a street-level art studio at All Saints Episcopal Church. Kids laugh in the courtyard. Scooters whiz past. Traffic steadily pulses along North Avenue. Inside, artist-in-residence Aysha Pennerman can hear the city sounds while she paints. The movement becomes a kind of soundtrack to her work, a reminder of why she’s here and who she’s creating for.
“I hear that energy outside, and it connects me to my work,” she says. “I like to use lines, and so I see the connection of that movement in my line work and brushstrokes.”
Connection is a signature thread running through Pennerman’s life, from a childhood spent moving across continents to her rise as a muralist who helps communities tell their stories. In Midtown, she’s turning that thread into a vision for public art that brings people together, and a partnership in Midtown that is helping her do it at a transformative scale.
A Life Built on Adaptability
Aysha Pennerman grew up in a military family, hopping from Texas to New Jersey to Germany (twice) before settling in Savannah. Each move meant starting over. New friends. New
surroundings. New cultural norms. For any young person, change could feel disorienting. Reflecting back as an adult, she sees it clearly.
“I learned to adapt very well,” she says. “Every time we moved, I had to figure out how to connect again, even when we didn’t speak the same language. I learned that connection is still possible through barriers.”
In the small German town where hers was the only American family on the street, she played with neighbors who spoke almost no English. They did puzzles together, climbed trees, and filled in the gaps with patience and curiosity. Those early childhood lessons about resourcefulness and empathy are evident in her work as a visual artist – going into new environments and talking to people, learning about different communities, and synthesizing what she discovers into art.
Pennerman observed that each new mural project she takes on presents logistical challenges that require adaptability as well. She described the challenges of getting paint to adhere to brick walls, and operating scissor lifts in tight spaces. Or even finding the nearest electrical outlet on the exterior of a building where she’s doing a project.
“Half the job as a muralist is problem-solving,” she says with a laugh. “Every wall is different. Every community is different. But connection is always possible.”
A Calling to Spread Hope
Pennerman’s shift into public art didn’t happen in a studio. It happened in a men’s temporary shelter that had once served as a prison—stark white walls, old bars still in place. A space heavy with the weight of its past.
A corporate service day brought her there. She painted a sunrise with a phoenix in the sleeping quarters, hoping it might uplift the room. Over the days of preparing the wall and painting, she heard one resident express his pain and discontent about residing there. But when the mural was complete, the man came back with a different tone entirely.
“He said, ‘Every day, I get to wake up to this sunrise,’” Pennerman recalled. “That’s when the light bulb went on for me. I realized there was purpose for me in using art as a way to bring hope and joy to spaces and the people who spend time in them.”
Not long after that experience, she left her job and stepped fully into her arts practice.
Juggling her career as an artist – and a home where she raises two boys, ages 12 and 6, with her husband – is a lot. But as her practice continues to flourish, Pennerman appreciates her family’s unending support. At times, the whole crew will come out to help her paint a mural.
“I hope one day, when my sons get older, that they will remember these moments when I took that leap of faith,” she said. “To know their mom designed this. And they helped me.”
Making Space for Artists
Today, thanks to a collaboration between Midtown Alliance’s Heart of the Arts program and All Saints Episcopal Church, Pennerman has a dedicated space for the next 12 months to explore new mediums, refine her mural concepts, and imagine bigger possibilities.
It’s a partnership built on shared values. Midtown Alliance wanted to deepen its investment in local creatives and activate spaces with authentic voices. And, demonstrating an eagerness to embrace public art in a way that feels rare for faith institutions, All Saints made physical space available for artists at its campus on North Avenue. The church even invited Pennerman to participate in a recent panel discussion about the intersection of faith and art.
“To see a church embrace visual art like this is refreshing,” Pennerman said. “Their openness means a lot. It lets me take ideas I never thought I could pull off on my own and bring them to life.”
Inside her studio, she’s experimenting with Japanese raku-fired ceramics, rendering 3D pieces with a metallic lustre that will eventually integrate with her painted portraits. Pennerman says she loves the tension of it – the way fire alters the clay, the way unpredictability becomes part of the beauty.
“It’s teaching me to let go of control,” she said. “To accept the process and what results from it.”
Pennerman also appreciates having other artists-in-residence next door at the church campus and nearby to exchange ideas and talk through design challenges. As she describes it, the residency and her colleagues are a constant source of support and motivation when she needs it.
Coming Soon: A New Mural for Midtown
Pennerman’s next big community mural project will soon take shape just outside her studio door. In partnership with All Saints, she is creating “Hope Beneath the Wings,” a sweeping mural that will wrap around the church’s parking structure. It will incorporate 3D ceramic doves, created with help from the community, and written reflections on what hope means today.
“In all the chaos and division present in our world today, this project feels essential,” she said. “We’re asking people, ‘What are you hopeful for?’ And how can you spread that hope in action?”
The project will start in spring 2026 and will feature community painting sessions, where all are invited to contribute. Learn more about how you can help inform this project and indicate your interest in painting by visiting this page.
The work is buoyed by support from Midtown Alliance, All Saints Episcopal Church, and a grant from the Spruill Arts Center.
Carrying Communities Forward
From her prior work in Atlanta neighborhoods to her bold new project that will transform the facade of a parking structure at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pennerman's capacity as an artist lies in turning what’s ordinary or overlooked into a colorful and culturally relevant source of pride.
“I feel like I have a responsibility to use these gifts and talents for a reason,” Pennerman said. “The simplest way to explain it is I want to be a light in the world, and serve others with art.”
Follow Aysha on Instagram at @artbyayshapen and watch for more details on her “Hope Beneath the Wings” mural coming to Midtown this spring.