LaGrange Academy students open perspectives with tiny door installations in downtown LaGrange

Published 10:00 am Thursday, March 3, 2022

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By CHASE DAVIS

Special of the LaGrange Daily News

As residents and visitors alike visit some of LaGrange’s notable hotspots, they may notice some new, tiny additions.

Seven students with LaGrange Academy’s National Art Honor Society spent the early part of Wednesday installing tiny doors at seven local businesses, a project that is meant to bring a small touch of charm to LaGrange’s downtown locations.

Led by their teacher, Tiffany Ammerman, NAHS mirrored the project off a similar one in Atlanta, Tiny Doors ATL.

Tiny Doors ATL is a series of over 20 miniature public art installations in downtown Atlanta that debuted in 2014 to foster a sense of wonder in people of all ages. Each student designed their door to reflect the location where they planned to install it. Doors were glued to each location’s building with proxy glue with prior consent of the businesses’ owners.

With seven different locations, each of the new installations revolves around a different small business in the downtown area.

The students were able to pick out a business to work with, and then they coordinated with the owners to design a custom miniature door.

Tiny doors were installed at Sweetland Amphitheater, Pretty Good Books, the LaGrange Art Museum, the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce, Sweet Roast Cafe, Lafayette Society of Performing Arts and Charlie Joseph’s Bull Street location.

The doors aim to inspire the imagination and bring the viewer to a new world, one that is created in their mind, the students noted.

Josh Rigsby, owner of Pretty Good Books, said that the doors were a fun and whimsical way to invite customers into his bookstore.

“They imply a much larger world, much like a book,” he said as the door was installed on his building.

Chloe Harrell and Pretty Good Books owner Joshua Rigsby celebrate the tiny door installation at Rigsby’s location.

These installations will also have a good community benefit, said Barbie Watts, director of promotions and marketing at the Downtown LaGrange Development Authority. She believes that public art is a vital aspect to having a vibrant downtown and that these tiny doors will help to generate more foot traffic.

One of the students, Mollie Olinger, said that she hoped the doors would add a “unique flavor” to the city, and that they would encourage more public art to be showcased throughout LaGrange. Ollinger, a high school senior at the LaGrange Academy, hopes to go to Mercer University and major in theater arts.

“I think it’s going to do a lot for tourism,” she said. “It’s going to lead people to places they may want to see.”

The students plan on making a flyer that showcases the doors and put them into the new visitor center. To see updates on the Tiny Door art installations, be sure to check out #lagrangetinydoortour on social media.