Art in Freedom Park, the culmination of nine years of discussion and planning, officially begins Sunday with the grand opening of the long-awaited public-art exhibition.

In addition to the public art on display, Sunday's event will feature several performances: a maypole performance (noon); Kevin Dunn (12:30 p.m.); One People Voice Company (1:30 p.m. in front of Criminal Records and 2 p.m. at the Moreland site); Z Axis (3 p.m.); Argentine tango performance and Kevin Dunn (4:15 p.m.); Beacon Dance (5:15 p.m.); Nu South Subterraneans (6:15 p.m.); Lowlife Puppet Theater (7:15 p.m.); and Neil Fried Films (8 p.m.).

The rain date for the performances is May 8.

The curatorial panel that selected the public art displayed at Freedom Park comprised representatives of the Atlanta arts community — including Art Papers, the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Eyedrum, the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs Public Art Program, Hammonds House Galleries and Resource Center of African American Art and the Freedom Park Conservancy — as well as residents from surrounding neighborhoods.

Art in Freedom Park will be a temporary public-art exhibit of sculptures and installations and a series of performances. This inaugural exhibition, which establishes Freedom Park as an art park, will run through the fall. Most of the artworks will be installed in Freedom Park for the entire event; others are designed to make only brief appearances.

The following are the artists and their descriptions (when available) of the works selected for the first Art in Freedom Park exhibit:

·         Curtis Ames and the DEPOT collective: “The Calculated Force of Non