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ALBANY, GA --
The Kattalistt Group and Dtown Arts Coalition joined forces on Wednesday to prepare the Art Park on Pine for its soft opening during Albany's Mardi Gras celebrations.

Members traded their paintbrushes for rakes, shovels and other cleaning tools to get the open space clean and ready for visitors.

DAC President Cameron Malphrus says the space will host a do-it- yourself workshop, artists creating pieces of work and more this weekend.

Since the start of the park's construction, many new artists have come to display their work on the walls of the brick building, which continues to become more colorful and impressive.

Malphrus says art is such an important way of expressing a voice that some don't even know they have, which is why they created a space to encourage the creation of artwork.

The soft opening will begin this Saturday but organizers hope the building will be completely finished and ready to go by the end of March.

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