The third edition of the Atlanta Art Fair, the city's only major art fair, opened its VIP preview on 1 October at Pullman Yards with 83 exhibitors — its largest yet. Offerings include agate slices by Atlanta artist-designer Amy Rader, painted puzzles by College Park's Jeffrey Wilcox Paclipan, and pop-culture icons that the Atlanta-born, LA-based Michael Kalish fashioned from film strips. San Francisco's Art of Contemporary Africa is showing works by South African legend Esther Mahlangu, while New York's Rafael Domenech contributed one of seven large-scale installations in the public projects section. A blinking-cloud sculpture by LA's Trulee Hall hangs over the fair's centre. Nato Thompson, artistic director of Art Market Productions, recounts spotting the work in Hall's studio last year — then learning she had walked away from the art world on a yoga retreat. The cloud is now concluding a three-fair tour after the San Francisco and Seattle fairs, both AMP events. Local pride abounds: muralist Charity Hamidullah shows with Atlanta's Tila Studios in the cultural-partners section, and painter Christopher James McAdoo calls the city's talent pool its greatest asset — "the struggle creates genius." Opening-night commerce was lively, mostly in the four- and five-figure range. Memphis's David Lusk Gallery drew New York collector interest in quilted "truck butts" by Nashville-based Briena Harmening at $6,000 apiece. Dealer Scott Zieher sold three works — a $2,800 excavated book by Portland's James Allen, an $8,000 photograph by Atlanta's Caroline Allison and an $800 drawing by New York's Anthony Miler. Harlem's Claire Oliver Gallery sold a Carlos Betancourt sculpture for $20,000 within an hour; Atlanta's Luca Fine Art placed a butterfly-laden Lis Sam portrait for $30,000. Whitespace founder Susan Bridges calls it "probably the best year" and "a bit more curated." Exhibitors now arrive from Charlotte, Los Angeles, Kingston and five from Wisconsin, as the fair rides a hype cycle dating to the 2022 launch of Atlanta Art Week. Despite questions about the local collector base, the fair bets on collaboration: artist Tariqa Waters staged a 30-minute game show, and sculptor Grace Kisa answered what would improve the scene with one word — "Support" — to applause.