Goat Farm’s resident artist Patrick Eugène was selected to reimagine the Lady Dior bag as contemporary art.
Atlanta-based artist Patrick Eugène shows visitors his three conceptual drawings for handbags he designed for Dior. The handbags each feature a pearl to acknowledge Haiti’s history as the “Pearl of the Antilles” — a name given to the island by France, which earned great wealth by exploiting land and slave labor. (Danielle Charbonneau/AJC)
On the far west end of the Goat Farm Arts Center — a former cotton gin machinery company turned 11-acre cultural hub now home to many of Atlanta’s contemporary artists — stands an old factory.
At one end of the brick building, visitors can find a painted door beneath a rusted metal awning leading to the new art studio of Atlanta-based, Haitian American artist Patrick Eugène. Late last month, Eugène welcomed a small crowd of visitors to tour his space, which is not generally open to the public.
A reclaimed-wood staircase rose from the first-floor gallery to a lofted paint studio, where natural light poured through clerestory windows framed in the same rustic wood overlooking green trees. The setting felt fitting for Eugène’s figurative paintings, with their warm earth tones and abstract expressionist compositions. Outside, the Goat Farm’s rusted machinery and weathered walls echoed the themes present in much of Eugène’s work: heritage, identity, migration and belonging.
The lofted space inside Patrick Eugène’s new studio inside an old factory building at Goat Farm Arts Center. (Danielle Charbonneau/AJC)
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Patrick Eugène gives a tour of his new art studio at the Goat Farm Arts Center on Sept. 26, 2025. The painting in the background is a new work he created as part of a series that explores familial relationships inside Black homes and gatherings. (Danielle Charbonneau/AJC)
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Patrick Eugène shows one of his conceptual drawings for a handbag he designed for Dior’s Lady Art project. The bag is inspired by the landscapes of Haiti and is built using fabrics like raffia to pay homage to his heritage. (Danielle Charbonneau/AJC)
Patrick Eugène reviews material samples provided by Dior to build his handbag designs as part of the 10th annual Dior Lady Art project. (Courtesy of Heather Sten)
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Patrick Eugène designed three handbags as a 2025 participant in the 10th annual Dior Lady Art project. (Danielle Charbonneau/AJC)
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htiw htiw mohw ot eerht eht eht eht ytlayor etanro fo ,rehtom tsom tsal si otni setaroprocni ronoh sih sih eh dlog denedrag .rewolf rewolf tnagele sliated ,ngised .dlihc sllac .gab sa krowtra dna na syawla tsomla a a ehT tI enèguE enèguE
lliw lliw lliw erehw ot eerht eht eht eht gnikat s’nos esacwohs detneserp gnidulcni ni ni sih mih pleh ,ebolg etarbelec yb yadhtrib eb .sgab sgab ta ta dnuora dna osla snoitavitca .kroY detinU setatS siraP weN ,imaiM soL enèguE roiD roiD lesaB lesaB trA trA selegnA llA ht02
lliw ,efiw hcihw hcihw ot ot ot neht eht tnemaciderp eno fo fo fo .rehtom sih sih sih evig detfig ecaf hcae ,sngised gnidiced eb gab dna enèguE
Patrick Eugène stands behind three handbags he designed as a 2025 participant in the 10th annual Dior Lady Art project. Only 10 international artists, including just two American artists, were selected to reimagine the Lady Dior handbag as contemporary art. (Courtesy of Heather Sten)
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… … I“ I“ ohW‘ sraey sraey ohw tahw saw tnaw ekaw egru pu litnu ot ot siht ”’?ereht taht tneps os ,yas .dias tniap .dlo stcejbo reven ynam ekil ?swonk swonk wenk si ni eh evah leef erolpxe noitatnemirepxe yreve ?esle esle yad etaerc gnivarc dluoc dna dna syawla syawla ”,niaga tahW oS m’I I I I I I I 72
Danielle Charbonneau is a reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
