Atlanta may be celebrated as a new cultural capitol, not just for the South but for the US as a whole. With explosive growth and rapid gentrification, the face of Atlanta is quickly changing. Yet street crime and violence endure despite the city's rising fortunes.

While so much of Atlanta's celebrated hip hop scene continues to make ignant crunk jams best suited to booming systems and strip clubs, the city's nascent art community is seeking to engage the ongoing issues of gun violence via shows like My Uzi Weighs A Ton, a group show running through this weekend at Art On 5.

Curated by street art bigwig Dubelyoo, the show gathers work from both traditional artists as well as street art scenesters and commercial designers, all of whom explore the conflicting dynamics surrounding guns in American society, a culture which seems to abhor the violence these simple devices have wrought yet continues to enshrine their place in society via the Bill of Rights.

While few of the participating artists will be familiar names, the compositions are accomplished and the ambivalence surrounding the 2nd Amendment and the place of firearms in American society is poignant. Atlanta may not supercede New York as the center of the arts scene anytime soon, but it's nice to see some noteworthy shows cropping up amidst the live/work lofts and strip clubs.

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