Art Hatch

Art Hatch Spring Festival –Saturday April 25, 10AM -2PM

A part of Art Blooms that included large wooden eggs painted by Cobb County High School students. Eggs are exhibited at the Gardens and throughout Kennesaw. A partnered event with Cobb County School District, Kennesaw Downtown and Town Center Community. The spring festival at the Gardens celebrates Art Blooms with music, theater performances by KSU, arts and crafts and a scavenger hunt through the Gardens. See visual and performing artist demonstrations and make your own artwork too. 

Hand-on activities provided by North Cobb Library, guest artists and Garden staff. 

Included with Garden Admission. Members are free. No need to buy an additional ticket for the theatre performances.

In addition to the arts/crafts and scavenger hunt please see below for special timed activities:

Kelsey Wishik – Music and Movement, 11am -12pm

Serenity in the Gardens- In the midst of busy schedules, constant noise, and the demands of everyday life, it’s easy to feel disconnected, overwhelmed, and rushed. This gathering at Smith- Gilbert Gardens offers a peaceful pause from the chaos—a chance to step out of doing and return to simply being. Through gentle opening movement, guided meditation, and healing flute music, we’ll create space to quiet the mind, soften the body, and reconnect with inner stillness. Surrounded by nature, this experience highlights the importance of cultivating inner peace as a grounding force, helping us restore balance, clarity, and a sense of calm we can carry back into daily life. No experience with meditation is required. All are welcome and the movement portion is optional.

The Beauty Project: Through the Looking Glass – 11:30am and 2pm

For four years, the KSU Department of Theatre and Performance Studies and Smith-Gilbert Gardens have collaborated on immersive and site-specific productions for family audiences. In the current project, the team is creatively responding to questions surrounding beauty— as found in nature and in our communities.

Featuring creative contributions from 5th-grade students at The Marietta Center for Advanced Academics, The Beauty Project has been crafted with ages 10-14 in mind (though adventurers of all ages are welcome!) Drawing inspiration from Wonderland, audiences will venture through the looking glass to find a way(s) in the quest to conquer beauty! Winding paths lead audiences to meet strange yet familiar queens, Alices, and bugs. Watch out for the Jabberwock…

Billy Hawkins – Healing Through Dance/Guided Movement, 1-2pm

Being With Oneself…Together offers an embodied experience that centers movement as a living practice to sense, release, and reconnect with oneself. Through a series of accessible Qigong-based somatic practices, guided explorations and shared presence, participants are invited into a collective space of restoration, grounded resilience, and relational presence—where individual experience and communal support unfold side by side. An intuitive, meditative and healing journey through dance. Suitable for all ages.

Known by many as a curator of joy and healing, Billy J. Hawkains III brings over a decade of experience across performance, choreography, community engagement, and education within local, collegiate, and professional settings. His approach is grounded in a deeply developed somatic practice informed by his work and research as one of four certified Safety Release Master Teachers in the world, a practice founded and created by B.J. Sullivan. He is committed to creating spaces where movement becomes a pathway for presence, connection, and meaningful personal and collective experience.