The Colors of Cartersville

By Ellen Archer

Georgia’s mountains really put on a show this time of year, with hues designed to warm the soul. The Appalachian foothills around Cartersville are equally vibrant with autumn festivals, captivating resorts, and award-winning attractions, making this friendly city the ideal landscape for an autumn retreat. Here’s my take on some of our most colorful “must-sees” this fall.

The Artist’s Palette

Ranchers, cowboys, and American Indians have painted the west for about 200 years. When the dust settled from a hard day’s labor, brushes captured the surrounding inspiration.
Each October, cattlemen and those fascinated by the west, mosey into Cartersville for the Southeastern Cowboy Festival and Symposium at the Booth Western Art Museum. The four-day festival plays out like a scene from a John Wayne movie. You’ll see Indians dancing in a blaze of color, Western gunfights, fancy rope tricks, and plenty more.
Step inside the museum to be transported to the authentic west through paintings, sculpture, and pulp illustrations. As the largest permanent exhibition of Western art in the United States, it’s easy to see why the Booth Western Art Museum was recently honored by the Southeast Tourism Society as the 2016 Travel Attraction of the Year.

The Blue House

Locals have been asking for the past five months, “What’s going on in that blue house next door to Rose Lawn Museum?” It’s the Magnolia Designer Show House benefitting Advocates for Children. An amazing team of designers have worked tirelessly to transform the home originally designed in 1940 by Smith & Daves of Atlanta. The project, lead by Beverly Baribault Design Group and Rothman + Rothman, also includes Peace Design, Y. McFadden Interiors LLC, Jane Hollman of Studio Entourage Architectural Interiors, Holmes + Salter Interiors, Steve McKenzie, Michael Smith Boyd Interiors, Bulent Baydar of Harrison Design, Lindsey Coral Harper Interiors, Vandi White Interiors, Rick Anthony Bonner of Insidesign, Cope Specialty Construction LLC, Susie Goldenberg of Urban Market Warehouse and Farm House Paints, J. Healey Interiors, Julie Montgomery Interiors LLC, and Kandrac & Kole Interior Designs.

An impressive group of trade partners will also showcase their latest products and innovations including Fleetwood Security, Delos, Paragon Wool Products, Sewell Appliances, Toto through European Sink and Bathworks, Sub Zero/Wolf, Baker, Kravet, Insidesign, and Sherwin Williams.

The Magnolia Designer Show House is open Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m. -4 p.m. and Sunday 1-4 p.m. October 19-November 13, 2016. Tickets are $20 each and available at the door at 218 West Cherokee Avenue, Cartersville. In addition, three special symposiums on various design aspects will feature special guest speakers and panel discussions of design experts. For design symposium topics and tickets see VisitCartersvilleGA.org.

Moonlight Masquerade

There’s nothing like an autumn sunset in North Georgia, and one of the prettiest places to experience them is at Barnsley Resort. Imagine the crisp colors of fall bursting through the vine-wrapped ruins of Godfrey and Julia Barnsley’s 1800s Italianate Manor House. The resort’s Masquerade Under the Autumn Moon takes advantage of this mysteriously romantic setting for an evening of dancing and fun.

Come create some colorful memories of your own that will linger long after the warmth of autumn is gone. Make reservations and plan your autumn getaway at VisitCartersvilleGA.org.