Here are some Macon-centric and Macon-connected items from my writer’s notebook. From honors bestowed upon artists with Macon ties to upcoming concerts — this is evidence that there’s always something to do in Macon.
Beverly Buchanan inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame
Beverly Buchanan was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Wesleyan College March 11.
Buchanan (1940–2015) was a Black artist who, though born in North Carolina, spent the majority of her creative life in Georgia — much of it in Macon, where she first came to teach art at Stratford Academy in 1977.
Known for her work as a painter, sculptor, photographer and creator of land art installations made of rock and concrete, she enjoyed critical acclaim during her lifetime. Buchanan’s work is now, more than ever, sought after by collectors and museums. Her pieces are in the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Her art is also featured in Macon’s Museum of Arts and Sciences and the Tubman African American Museum. Her land art pieces remain in Macon: “Ruins and Rituals” at the Museum of Arts and Sciences and “Unity Stones” at the Booker T. Washington Center. These reflect themes often present in Buchanan’s art — resilience and decay, being weather-worn yet still standing. With universal appeal, her work highlights the Southern Black experience.
This theme is clear in Buchanan’s well-known series of “shack paintings” and sculptures, where vivid, childlike colors and a folk-art style portray shacks from throughout the region in a blend of representational and abstract imagery.
Though not technically a folk artist due to her extensive training and ability to work in many styles, Buchanan chose this approach as the language that best communicated her artistic vision. But she might never have made art her career: At Columbia University, she earned two master’s degrees — one in parasitology and one in public health — and was set to begin medical school. Instead, she devoted herself to art, working as a technician in health care and in education until she could create full time.
The Georgia Women of Achievement cited Buchanan’s work as one that “strengthens Georgia’s cultural assets immeasurably” and noted that throughout her career she “created enduring and insightful work that was intimately linked to her natural surroundings and folk art.”
Buchanan once said, “A lot of my pieces have the word ‘ruins’ in their titles because I think that tells you this object has been through a lot and survived — that’s the idea behind the sculptures. It’s like, ‘Here I am; I’m still here!’”
Buchanan was nominated to the Hall of Fame by former Museum of Arts and Sciences Executive Director Susan Welsh. Wesleyan President Meaghan Blight and Mercer University President Penny Elkins, who also served as past president of Georgia Women of Achievement, attended the event. The organization was founded to honor Georgia women, inspire young women and promote education. Among its first inductees in 1992 were Martha Berry and Flannery O’Connor.
Muscogee (Creek) artist Johnnie Diacon: Emory artist-in-residence
Muscogee (Creek) artist Johnnie Diacon of Tulsa has made many friends in Macon — you may be one if you’ve met him at the Indigenous Celebrations at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park or a gallery show here.
Talented and personable, Diacon is a 2025–26 Indigenous artist-in-residence at Emory University’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, with exhibits at Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum and now on Emory’s Oxford, Georgia campus.
On March 30, Diacon will present an art workshop at Emory and a talk called “A Creativity Conversation” on the following day.
“It’s quite an honor to be invited to Emory, and always an honor to be invited to show my work highlighting the Muscogee people,” Diacon said. “It’s nice being recognized and invited back into our ancestral homelands. I’ve got quite a relationship with Macon and a great partnership with Emory. It’s a joy discussing my art with students and how meaningful it is historically and spiritually.”
Being in Georgia is something he never thought would happen.
“Growing up, I never imagined I would ever be able to visit and see our homeland in Georgia, much less build relationships there,” Diacon said.
Demand for Diacon’s work is growing, with opportunities like those in Macon and Emory, as well as exhibitions at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Tennessee and Alabama, and across the nation. He is currently at work on a group of large-scale commissioned pieces for the Museum of Alabama and a new comic book series, adding to several he has already produced.
This weekend: Not just a lot of music, but all kinds
Increasingly, national music acts are coming to Macon alongside local ones — this weekend proves it with not one superstar concert but two. Macon is attracting musicians of all backgrounds, representing a broad spectrum from Baroque to country rock and blues.
Annual Cherry Blossom Concert
The concert at St. Joseph Catholic church will feature Robert Mulcrone, a student at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer, on violin, and Gregory Hamilton, director of music at St. Joseph, on harpsichord.
“It’s a concert of Baroque music using my beautiful Flemish harpsichord modeled after a 1680 instrument, and Robert, who is a magnificent musician, will be playing a violin that I believe is from 1686,” Hamilton said. “St. Joseph is a stunning place for the concert in both its décor and acoustics. The concert is free and everyone is invited. Afterward, kids are welcome to have a look and play the harpsichord.”
The concert is Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m.
Joe Bonamassa performs at the Atrium Health Amphitheater.
At time of publication, tickets were still available. The legendary blues guitar master is a musical force to be reckoned with. A couple of fun facts: Bonamassa took lessons as a kid from larger-than-life Telecaster virtuoso Danny Gatton and, at 12 years old, opened for and played with B.B. King.
The concert is on Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
Emmylou Harris performs at the Piedmont Grand Opera House
By all indications, it’s sold out — as well it should be. Harris’s longstanding career as a singer-songwriter-musician and musical stateswoman is incomparable and has garnered her 13 Grammy Awards. Fun fact: Harris was more of a folk singer until she met country-rock innovator Gram Parsons, with whom she teamed up early in her career. Though unnamed as such, she and Parsons were briefly portrayed singing together in a crowded rock-and-roll hotel room in the movie “Almost Famous.”
The concert is on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram @michael_w_pannnell.