Artist Rory Hawkins, aka Catlanta, scatters paintings of lovable cats all over the city

If you have a keen eye for local public art in Atlanta, you may notice certain recurring themes. You’ve probably seen R. Land’s iconic “prayer hands,” Greg Mike’s colorful “loudmouth” characters and Peter Ferrari’s interlocking pipe mazes. You’re also very likely to have noticed an abundance of cat imagery.

That would be the work of Catlanta, one of our city’s most prolific, engaged and loyal artists, who’s been scattering his paintings of lovable cats all over town for years. Catlanta is the moniker of Rory Hawkins.

In this interview, “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes speaks with Hawkins about how cats took over his art portfolio and Atlanta’s walls.