Ansley resident and longtime gallery owner, photographer and artist Rob Matre has a long history of donating artworks to Art In The Park. Since 2013, he has been making mixed media paintings in collaboration with Evan Jones under the name of Plaid Columns.

Their process is a mix of photo collage and paint. Subjects are based on Matre's photographs and vintage photographs that inspire him. There is an autobiographical theme to this series, with most paintings featuring people, places and things that are part of his personal experience.

Matre's love for art came from the album covers of his father's music collection, and that's where the story of this painting of The Royal Peacock takes off. In the early 1960's, his father was a senior at Georgia Military Academy, which is now Woodward Academy. He and a few of his classmates snuck out to hear one of the iconic acts that made The Royal Peacock the place for live music in Atlanta, with the likes of James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Little Richard, Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin performing there. Their night on the town went south, and they faced a stern reprimand for their escapade. So when Matre came across a photograph of pianist Charlie Brown in action at The Royal Peacock, he made this painting to honor that night that seemed to be more full of magic than regret the way his father told it.

Matre is known as one of the top golf photographers in the world. In fact, Ansley Golf Club has over fifty of his paintings and photographs on display in its Midtown and Settindown clubhouses.

Plaid Columns paintings can be seen in many collections around Atlanta and beyond, including University of Georgia, SunTrust, Southern Company, and most recently, they were commissioned by CBS Sports HQ in New York City to make a painting commemorating University of Georgia's victory over Notre Dame.

And coming soon to our neighborhood is a 250-foot wide (yes 250 feet!) outdoor artwork at The Promenade, across from the Woodruff Arts Center, commissioned by Cousins Properties. This epic piece is a greatest hits montage from their vast series of Atlanta landmarks.