Elijah Wade turned a difficult stretch of life into paint news by starting Paint N Sit ATL, a nonprofit that has welcomed tens of thousands of people. He said the first gathering came after he left school, came home and looked for a way to connect with others through art.
The first event took place at Old Fourth Ward Skatepark after Wade bought art supplies from Dollar Tree and invited people to paint and sit with him. By July 23, 2026, the organization had expanded into public parks, libraries, festivals and communities across Georgia and beyond.
Elijah Wade and the first gathering
Wade said the idea grew out of a dark period roughly five years earlier. “I was actually in school playing college basketball and I had to leave school and come home, and I didn't really know what I was doing,” he said.
He said he was also a new father and was painting with friends at the time. “I was a new father at the time. I was also back home painting with friends and painting did so much for me,” he said.
From there, he said, the idea became simple and direct. “I saw that art can really connect people,” he said. “The following week, I got some art supplies from Dollar Tree with the little money I had and invited people to literally just paint and sit with me.”
Paint N Sit ATL across Georgia
Paint N Sit ATL has grown into a nonprofit that welcomes people of every age, background and skill level. Wade described therapeutic art as “using art as a positive coping mechanism for anything that you're going through,” and said it is “a positive outlet just like sports, working out, yoga, and meditation.”
He said the events are designed to be open and welcoming. “It's something about getting a canvas and not knowing what to paint,” he said. “A lot of people say, 'I don't know how to paint,' or 'I've never painted before.' But the release and connectivity you get—not only painting by yourself but painting with other people who have the same intention of just being present—is powerful.”
The group has also brought programming to the United States Penitentiary Atlanta and is preparing an upcoming trip to Liberia to provide art supplies and programming for children. That expansion puts the organization far beyond the small first gathering while keeping the same basic structure: canvases, paint and time to sit together.
Rashad Muhammad and Jade Croslan
Not every participant came looking for a hobby. Rashad Muhammad said Paint N Sit ATL helped after his wife lost her mother. “I wouldn't think that I'd be coming out to the park to paint,” he said. “My wife started going to these events, and you could see it gave her relief for a moment.”
He said the setting gives people room to settle themselves. “If you're overwhelmed, stressed out, going through something or grieving, you can come here, grab some paint and just be at peace.”
Jade Croslan said she had been looking for a place to belong. “I was looking for things to do or a place where I could just be myself and accepted as myself,” she said. Croslan added that the events had given her a sense of belonging over the past two years, which shows why Wade’s idea has spread: it meets people where they are, even when they arrive carrying loss, stress or grief.
That mix of openness and need is the story’s sharpest edge. Wade says the events are for everyone, yet the people drawn to them often arrive because they are hurting, and the organization’s next challenge is practical: how it keeps supplying free materials while it stretches from Atlanta to Liberia.
