Steve Hurlburt has spent decades commissioning and collecting artwork inspired by a single, perspective-challenging line from the Grateful Dead song “Scarlet Begonias.” That journey now culminates in a large-format coffee table book set for release this summer.

Step inside his Lafayette Drive home and it all comes into focus. What appears from the street as a classic early 20th century Ansley Park residence opens into something entirely different—an airy, modern space filled with bold, thought-provoking artworks rendered in a dozen different media. It’s the perfect setting for a collection that has been quietly taking shape for three decades.

Steve is a true Atlantan, born here and raised near Chastain Park—back when the amphitheater wasn’t branded and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra served as its “house band.” A graduate of Pace Academy (1971), he returned to Atlanta after a short stint in Minnesota and eventually made his way to Ansley Park.

Now a 28-year resident of the neighborhood—the last five on Lafayette Drive—he previously spent more than two decades on Barksdale. His appreciation for Ansley is simple: the parks, the wide streets, the varied architecture, and the sense of space that continue to define the neighborhood today.

After graduating with honors from Covenant College in 1975 with degrees in English and Biblical Studies, Steve’s early career began in journalism, where he served as editor and publisher of MUZIK! Magazine in the early ’80s. He later became involved in property development and financial management.

Artistic creativity always ran parallel. That pull led to filmmaking, including Dreadheads: Portrait of a Subculture, and playing music in Elegy (a Grateful Dead tribute band), as well as the duo Accident of Birth. His film and music projects remain available online.

Steve’s current project embodies curiosity, risk-taking, and creative expression in ways that feel both personal and ambitious.

Sky Yellow / Sun Blue: The Art of “Scarlet Begonias” and the Ecstatic Vision of the Grateful Dead is a large-format, museum-quality book of 300 pages, featuring 40 original works commissioned across three decades, alongside essays, interviews, and commentary totaling more than 120,000 words.

The concept is deceptively simple: each artist was asked to interpret the lyric “the sky was yellow and the sun was blue,” and to accompany their work with an artist’s statement.

What emerged is anything but simple—a collection that sits at the intersection of fine art, music, and cultural storytelling, free from the usual Grateful Dead commercial imagery and grounded entirely in individual interpretation.

The book itself is designed as an object of art, with an elegant cloth cover, foil-stamped details, exposed spine, and numbered slipcase—something meant to be collected, not just read.

Steve’s project isn’t just conceptual—it’s rooted in Atlanta.

One of its most visible expressions is a large-scale mural executed on the former Eats building across from Ponce City Market. The wall itself carries meaning within Atlanta’s graffiti community—a place where artists create work meant to be seen and respected by other artists.

The mural reflects both the lyric that inspired the project and the layered history of Ponce de Leon Avenue—one of Atlanta’s most storied corridors. Eats itself represented a version of the city that’s increasingly rare: unpretentious, full of character, and deeply local.

To mark the book’s release, Steve will host two open-house events at his Lafayette Drive home—one for contributors and collaborators, and another exclusively for Ansley Park neighbors.

The evenings will feature the full collection on display, signed copies available, and a thoughtfully curated experience of food, drink, and conversation—an opportunity to experience the work firsthand and meet some of the artists and contributors behind it.

Steve shares two daughters with his ex-wife, Sandie Hurlburt.

Rebecca, based in Brooklyn, is a yoga and Pilates instructor, meditation guide, and astrological consultant, currently wrapping up a full-scale renovation of her Williamsburg condo. 

Jenny, here in Atlanta, spent a decade working in the film industry, where she met her wife, Bess Johnson, on the set of The Resident. Jenny now works as an event planner, while Bess is pursuing her Master’s at Candler School of Theology.

For 18 years, Steve had a cat named Nesta—named for Bob Marley—who had seven toes on each front paw and a best friend, Milo, across the street at Elizabeth Clarke’s house.

When it comes to local favorites, he still swears by the jerk chicken and collards from Eats (its menu now revived at Wild Heaven Brewing in the West End), keeps Houston’s in regular rotation for dinner and a Manhattan, and points to Glide Pizza as one of the best slices in the city.

The parks. The space. The streets.

And the ability to live in the middle of Atlanta while still feeling part of something distinctly personal and connected.

35 Lafayette Dr.
 404-272-0082
 skyyellowsunblue.com
 Instagram: @skyyellow_sunblue
 Facebook: Sky Yellow / Sun Blue