Callanwolde Fine Arts Center

Our wedding was perfect! Mike and his staff were friendly, helpful, and more than accommodating. They made great recommendations for our vendors and ensured that the day ran without a hitch! Our wedding truly was as beautiful as the brochures!

Very uninspiring architecture and landscaping. Have toured other early 20^th Century homes and found them more appealing. Callenwolde has a basic floor plan and the gardens are boring. I guess it has struggled over the years and is owned by the local county. It shows.
The Christmas decorating was also very bland. Looked like somebody essentially stumbled down the aisle at Michael’s. Almost seems like the decorators had their arms twisted to participate

Went here with a friend today. She had a groupon for Christmas deal. We both weren’t very impressed. You walk through this house which has like maybe 7 or so rooms and they’re decorated for Christmas but I just expected more. You can always buy any of the furniture as you walk through. So it’s kinda like you’re paying to walk through an estate sale in a way.

Excellent support team! I recently did an event here, (I’m a wedding planner), and I had a seemless experience. The sales and events coordination team was wonderful and very proactive in helping me solve logistical issues. The on site staff on the day of were invaluable and helped me pull the event off without a hitch! Would highly recommend as an events/​wedding venue.

I had greatly anticipated last December’s Christmas at Callanwolde. I had thoroughly enjoyed my previous experience and looked forward to the tour of the mansion and its designer rooms. I was shocked and disappointed when I arrived with friends and found the outdoor decorations on the front lawn to be spray painted cardboard boxes. The experience continued downhill from there. Few rooms were decorated, the entire experience was disappointed, and there was no shopping on the second floor. It took us 20 minutes to decide we wanted to leave, for nothing was nothing to look at and nothing to enjoy. Callanwolde was a disappointing, empty shell. I don’t care to return and also called friends the day of my visit and told them not to waste their time.

Wow.
What a change a few years AND new management makes!
I got a note from their ED asking me to come back and check things out and I took her up on it — no bribes or slick enticements: just «Hey, come check us out.»
Well worth it; this place is ready for prime time and has a ton to offer. Don’t miss the Halloween thing they have planned and get on their info list!

This review pertains to the darkroom photography course with David Damon – I came to Callanwolde after spending about five years learning digital photography. The more I learned about digital, the more I wanted to get back to photography as an art form. After two quarters of his darkroom black and white photography course, I feel like I am experiencing photography the way it was meant to be learned and enjoyed. It is a process, and David has taught me so much about making photos rather than just taking them. He is dedicated to the art form, teaching the proper process for handling the chemicals and taking care of the darkroom equipment. I also appreciate that Callanwolde allows plenty of access to the darkroom outside of class time.

I love this place!!! I have driven by this place forever and never had a reason to go check it out. Then, my hubbies friends decide to get married here! Everything about this place is what you would want in a wedding venue. It met all my expectations and was so lovely that I want to figure out a way to have an event here… Maybe a wedding vow renewal or party for something special…
There are a million places outside to take brilliant photo. The backdrop in any place outside or inside is amazing!!! The landscaping is so lush and unique. Colors everywhere! Cute courtyards, big windows, tall trees, something prettiness all around! There wasn’t one bad place for a picture inside or out!
The area where the grand staircase is where the three piece band and cocktail reception was and then the ceremony was in the large room with that phenomenal chandelier!!! Just picture perfect! After the ceremony the couple went upstairs and then ascended the stairs to everyone as hubby and wife. The pictures were brilliant!!! Did I mention I LoVe this place!!! I don’t give out 5’s very often do you know I mean them!!!

Don’t waste your money on the jewelry class. Signed up for beginner class that was supposed to be limited in class size, but advanced students were in the classroom and diverted too much time from planned projects. The instructor is very talented, but unfocused and offered little instruction. Limited tools for group size make class time unproductive. This class was clearly stated for beginners in the catalog, but I felt that for the $ 250 class fee, there are better options elsewhere. Very disappointed.

Cool venue for a wedding. If I ever get reincarnated as a person who has no memory of being married in my previous life and therefore I have no guilt about getting remarried, especially at a place that I attended a wedding at… oh and if I live in Atlanta… yeah I’d consider this place.
The bathroom fan in the men’s room was about two inches away from giving me a haircut. So, you know… watch out, tall brothers.

This review is only about Christmas at Callanwolde. I first visited Christmas at Callanwolde three years ago when I first moved to Atlanta. It was everything that it was advertised to be. The rooms were furnished and decorated elaborately for Christmas. You had the feeling as if you were touring an exquisite mansion. In fact, I was told upon entry NO PHOTOS. Apparently the designers didn’t want anyone stealing their ideas.
I went again this past Sunday, Dec. 14^th. It was such a huge difference and almost disappointment. All of the bedrooms upstairs had their furniture removed, the walls covered in white cloths and were converted into *theme* rooms. They had a room with a Coca-​Cola display. They had a room where they were selling Build-​a-​Bears for $ 30. They had a room with some small card tables which was the Leggo room. It wasn’t a tour of a mansion, it was a walk through an indoor festival. Even the family sitting room upstairs was wall to wall vendors selling jewelry and other nick nacks. Not even all of them were Christmas related. You could tell the purpose of the event wasn’t to showcase a lovely mansion that had been decorated for Christmas but to hawk goods.
It was OK, but it was definitely not what I expected. I’ll stick with a different tour of homes for my Christmas viewing pleasure next year. I won’t be back.

The Callanwolde rooms in past years have been impressive.
Each room has very specific appointments with unique art, fixtures, furniture etc.
Today defined disappointment.
The rooms had limited materials that failed to produce a feeling of quality, uniqueness, or even the belief that the room defined the designer’s flair. It should have challenged the visitor to create an ambiance similar to a somewhat perfect room.
Two years ago, the rooms were stunning. It was not simply a reminder of Christmas. It was an experience-​an amazing and memorable experience that my friends and I will always share.
Perfection is possible more than one time.
Please reproduce it.

Went to «Halloween Night at Callanwolde Mountain», what an utterly disappointing, poorly executed event. Arrived just after 7pm (the event started at 6pm, with activities being advertised as starting at 7:15) Although my neighbors were turned away at the gate at 6:50, when we arrived (after parking nearby) a police officer was collecting money just beyond the gate. I saw no ticket booth or tickets but simply a wad of cash that she was pulling in and out of her pocket. After relunctantly paying her we walked up to the mansion. The lawn was adorned with a couple of cheap inflatable decorations but I saw no food trucks as advertised. Inside the doors I was greeted by a mob of wandering families who looked completely lost. With no direction myself I wandered into the first of many empty rooms. Pumpkin caving? I saw nothing. Costume contest? Nope. A few sad looking employees, whose creepy costumes made me question if they were just released from jail, handed out what appeared to be the candy of Halloween past. I begrudgedly followed the ‘walking dead’ upstairs where I was greeted by said, «Lego Discovery center». What a disappointment. There were two tiny card tables, on one was a very small Lego haunted house (they advertised a large scale dlsplay… this house was about 8 inches tall), which was right at my son’s eye level but was strictly off limits as enforced by the grumpy Lego representative. On the second table was a sad pile of orange Legos. That’s it! No real Lego table, no seats, nothing inticing. Again the rooms upstairs were completely empty and void of activities. Another trip downstairs led me to a room with an orchestra which was the only redeeming quality of this nightmare event. But alas, my toddler isn’t really interested in Phantom of the Opera and was left a bit confused after being led into a small room bursting at the seems with a full orchestra and crowd that now appeared to given into this preposterous nature of this failed event. Not only was this event a complete waste of time, money and energy, it was a total sham. Since I will never get back my time I would like a refund, but again, I question whether my $ ended up in the wrong hands. This event need not be carried out next year, I guarantee, if it is advertised for what it really is, no one would attend.

We had our wedding ceremony in December of 2012 at the Samuel Goldman Retreat of the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. Obviously it’s not the most popular area of the campus (it’s the smaller cabin-​ish building on the south side, near the amphitheater), but it was perfect for what we wanted — intimate, rustic and not outrageously expensive! We loved the huge stone fireplace and the wooden beams. It’s also in a great location and was close to our reception venue (Paris on Ponce). Charlotte was professional, pleasant and easy to work with, and she was also very flexible in allowing us to have a little extra time to decorate/​clean-​up. (Although it depends on other rentals, of course.) While there isn’t a lot of extra space to get ready (I hid out in the kitchen while guests arrived), the facilities are excellent, and we were overall very pleased and glad we chose this space!

This is a beautiful venue for an event. I came here for a school formal in the fall and absolutely loved the charm of the entire night. There was plenty of space, though it felt like I had waltzed into a magical elegant home. Additionally, there was art upstairs to view at our leisure. I would like to come back to see the exhibits or attend future events here.

Very nice location for a big event. Went to a wedding with 120 plus guests with outdoor ceremony. There was a gazebo for the string quartet and trees and flowers to gaze upon. Then we had cocktails on the terrace followed by dinner and dancing in the house. Everyone had a lovely time. You can rent the whole place for the night so there was plenty of space to spread out.

Viewed an art exhibit here recently. It’s a nice space with an abundance of natural light in the exterior rooms. It seems well maintained and cared for. We didn’t bump into a single employee while there, so I’m not sure if the space station is manned or not, but even so, the center felt inviting and possessed of a lot of history.
Outside there was a jazz event on the lawn. Lots of jazzy people showed up armed with wine and lawn chairs. They were going to go buck wild.

This place has allot going on all the time. It is definitely worth a trip if you are interested in what they have at the current time. Very serial and time oriented with there events. Great for planning a trip to change pace.
Allot of what they have going on is for couples coming up in february. I put allot of there stuff up on
so people can keep up with whats going on. I make it easy for people to make a quick decision and get a good idea about an event.

Callanwolde is awesome, and is probably one of the best-​kept secrets in Atlanta (well, OK, Decatur). It’s a community arts center, and they offer all kinds of art classes that are open to everyone. The class fees are reasonable (I’ve taken several photography courses there and they were all under $ 200 for 8 weeks), and you meet awesome people.
Here’s my personal experience:
I took a film photography course back in the day in high school, and I was interested in trying it out again. I was looking for somewhere in Atlanta that I could take a film photography class, but all I could find were digital photography classes. Finally, a friend told me about Callanwolde. I had never heard of it before, so I checked it out and found that it had just what I was looking for.
For under $ 200, I took an eight-​week photography & dark room course at Callanwolde taught. There were just over 10 people in the class, and we had access six days a week to Callanwolde’s dark room. The class met on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m., and the class allowed students at different levels to set their own goals and work on their own projects, although there were also class-​wide assignments.
I learned a lot in the class, including dark room technique and photography technique. I also met a ton of cool people through Callanwolde. In fact, I enjoyed the class so much that I took it three times while living in Atlanta. Now that I live in Los Angeles, Callanwolde is one of the things I miss the most.
I loved the photography course, but they have painting, sculpture, weaving, carving, dancing, and all sorts of things I’m leaving out. The catalog is on the website:
Check it out.