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The Hall of the Magician, ceiling view, The Upton, Atlanta, Georgia, 2026
Case Study 05

The Hall of the Magician

2026  ·  The Upton, Atlanta, GA  ·  3D Installation

In progress

"Not a mural on a wall. A room you walk into that has its own atmosphere — and its own logic."

Year 2026 (ongoing)
Location The Upton Luxury Apartments, Atlanta, GA
Scope Ceiling, hanging banners, floor, wall compositions
Client Gallery Residential
Form 3D art installation

The Hall of the Magician is the largest and most ambitious project I've taken on. Gallery Residential commissioned me to make something for The Upton, their new luxury development in Atlanta — not a single wall, but an entire immersive room. Ceiling, banners hung through the space, floor, walls. The whole envelope.

The concept borrows its name and structure from the Magician card of the tarot, the figure who stands at the threshold between worlds with the four elements laid out in front of him — fire, water, air, earth. Each element gets its own treatment in the space. Ether connects them. Constellations run across the banners and cross onto the floor, so when you walk in you're standing under a sky you can also see reflected beneath your feet.

Everything I've been working toward in the studio for years — the Victorian surface language from The Scottie, the figurative-symbolic work of True Strength, the site-responsive geometry of Appalachian Sunsets — gets pulled together here in a single space. It's the first project where I get to build the full context, not just paint inside one someone else designed.

The work is ongoing through 2026. These images are from the ceiling pass and early process; I'll update this page as each element goes in.

The Hall of the Magician, installation progress, The Upton, Atlanta
Adam Stephenson painting the Upton ceiling from a lift, process shot, Atlanta