ADAC celebrates a milestone birthday!
For more than six decades, Buckhead’s Atlanta Decorative Arts Center has provided the city and surrounding region with the best of what the design industry has to offer. From access to sprawling designer showrooms to intimate expert conversations, ADAC has become an essential gathering place for the design community. This year marks its 65th birthday. We sat down with general manager Katie Miner to discuss how far the design destination has come and how it will continue to grow.
Looking back over 65 years, was there a moment that really changed the trajectory of what ADAC became?
Since 1961, ADAC had only been open to credentialed designers. In 2012, we opened our doors to the public to show more people what was available to them to decorate their homes. We invited them in to see the showrooms, sit in the chairs and look at the fabrics in person. Transactions are still mostly handled through interior designers with business licenses, but what mattered most was that we drew back the curtain. It helped homeowners understand the value of hiring a design professional to help them navigate everything that was suddenly available to them.
Shortly after that, we also leaned into the fact that we’ve always served a 10-state region. Designers were already coming in from Nashville, Charleston, Charlotte, Birmingham and beyond, so we started going into those cities ourselves, sponsoring design events and meeting designers in their own hometowns.
What’s something ADAC has intentionally kept the same?
That sense of community and bringing people together through design. The interior design industry is a relationship industry at its core, and we’ve never forgotten that. We work hard to foster relationships and build community here. Designers don’t come to ADAC just to see the product. It’s about the events, their peers and their clients.
Where is ADAC headed in the next few years?
We’ve never stood still, and we don’t plan to now. We’re continuing to strengthen our position as the Southeast’s design destination. Whether it’s opening to the public, expanding into the region or bringing design studios and new restaurants to ADAC West, we’re always looking to the horizon for what’s next. If there’s one thing I want people to take from my time here, it’s that we’re committed to staying ahead and building on this success for the future.
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