On April 16, 2026, Atlanta officials announced that nearly 23,000 square feet of the former CNN Center — now rebranded as "The CTR" — would transform into the ATL Culture House during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The venue will host eight days of arts programming in June and July, featuring live performances, artist panels, film screenings, and youth workshops that showcase Atlanta's creative community to an international audience.
The ATL Culture House is organized by Showcase Atlanta, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs. The programming reflects a deliberate effort to present Atlanta's cultural identity alongside its athletic one — ensuring that World Cup visitors experience the city's artists, musicians, and filmmakers, not just its stadium.
The Programming
The city will curate half of the Culture House programming. The remaining half was selected from more than 400 proposals submitted by local artists — a number that speaks to the depth of Atlanta's creative community and the appetite for a platform of this scale. Adriane Jefferson, executive director of the Office of Cultural Affairs, described the significance: "This shows what it means...to have a space that really represents them."
The programming mix — performances, panels, screenings, workshops — is designed to serve multiple audiences. International visitors will see Atlanta's creative scene. Local residents will see their artists on a global stage. Young people will participate in workshops that connect them to the city's arts infrastructure. The Culture House is not background entertainment for World Cup tourists. It is a parallel event, running on its own terms in a venue that carries its own weight.
The Building's Reinvention
The choice of venue matters. The CNN Center — Ted Turner's signature property, where Cable News Network broadcast to the world from 1987 until relocating in 2024 — was one of the most recognizable buildings in Atlanta. Its transformation from a global media headquarters into a cultural hub mirrors downtown Atlanta's broader evolution: buildings designed for one era finding new purpose in the next.
The CTR rebranding and the ATL Culture House programming represent the building's first major public-facing use since CNN's departure. For a structure that sat at the intersection of Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Marietta Street — adjacent to State Farm Arena and the Georgia World Congress Center — the World Cup provides both the audience and the urgency to demonstrate what the building can become.
The First Event
The ATL Culture House opens on June 14, 2026 — the same day the FIFA Club World Cup kicked off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium the previous summer. A complete performance schedule is available on the ATL Culture House website. For a city that has spent years preparing its infrastructure for the World Cup, the Culture House represents the part of the preparation that cannot be measured in stadium seats or hotel rooms: the argument that Atlanta is worth visiting for what it creates, not just what it hosts.
Original reporting by Georgia Public Broadcasting, April 16, 2026.