H. L. Mencken, the acerbic early 20th century journalist known as “the scribe of Baltimore,” came to regret the harshness of his essay, “The Sahara of the Bozart,” a diatribe against the absence of cultural life in the South.

He eventually justified it for helping to ignite the literary movements for which the South became famous later in the century.

No doubt Mr. Mencken would be surprised to find that Georgia today, despite its faults, has a dynamic economy and claims Atlanta as the Southeast’s commercial capital.

After all, it was Georgia that he labeled to be the “worst” state in the South, calling it “crass, gross, vulgar” and other pejoratives.

The South’s coastal cities such as Charleston and Savannah traditionally have claimed superior affinity for the arts in contrast to inland metropolises like Atlanta.

It took the tragic loss of lives of Atlanta’s art patrons and artists in the June 1962 airplane crash on their return from a cultural tour of Europe to prompt the fund raising that culminated in the Woodruff Arts Center located in Midtown.

The audaciousness of Atlanta’s bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics and its accompanying Cultural Olympiad continues to amaze, especially since it was accomplished without public funds.

The “Rings: Five Passions in World Art” exhibition, which was the centerpiece of the Cultural Olympiad at the 1996 games, became the trailblazer for a partnership between the Musée du Louvre in Paris and Atlanta’s High Museum of Art.

As the museums prepare to enter the third and final yearlong phase of the unique partnership, hundreds of thousands have visited the High to see art works they might never have seen even if they went to Paris. 

Henri Loyrette, the Louvre’s innovative president and director, may have used Atlanta as an experiment to test his vision of a new role for the Louvre on a global stage.

The price tag for the Louvre Atlanta is some $18 million, which contrasts modestly with the Abu Dhabi project that reportedly will bring to the Louvre $900 million for the use of its name and for loans of some 300 works.

Mr. Loyrette has been criticized at home for his fund raising efforts, tapping the world’s billionaires to commercialize French culture.

But from the perspective of Atlanta, he has put what is arguably the world’s greatest museum on a firm financial footing while providing it with funds for needed restorations, additions to its collections and new artistic endeavors.

The arts also has provided a common ground to which both the French and Americans have been able to transcend their governments’ political differences through an appreciation of their cultural heritages.

What we at GlobalAtlanta have attempted with this report on the Louvre Atlanta partnership is to go beyond bean counting and explore what may be the long-term benefits for those who have been caught up in Mr. Loyrette’s vision.

What we found is that Louvre Atlanta has come to symbolize Atlanta’s arrival as a more cosmopolitan city that would genuinely appreciate the Louvre’s masterworks, and that has underscored the importance of the arts generally to the city’s quality of life and economic growth.

In view of Atlanta’s lively art scene in terms of music, theater and the visual arts, it would be grossly unfair to castigate Georgia as a “Sahara of Bozart” any longer.

While a dynamic state in many ways, Georgia continues to suffer from a drought, both literally and figuratively.  Just as rain has been scarce, public contribution to the arts remains rather limited.

It is our hope that the Louvre Atlanta partnership will continue to cultivate a consciousness of the arts in Georgia so that our state will continue to be enriched by international experiences as it becomes more competitive in the global economy.