91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

Atlanta artist, Girl Scouts transform 17th Street Bridge with mural celebrating 2026 FIFA World Cup

By
Kaley Fedko
Kaley Fedko
Kaley Fedko is a reporter at CBS Atlanta, where she began in December 2025.
Read Full Bio
Kaley Fedko

/ CBS Atlanta

An Atlanta artist is transforming a well-known bridge into an inspirational new landmark.

Miami-born Melissa Mitchell is a self-taught artist with an infectious personality reflected in her colorful and lifelike paintings found around Atlanta, a city she has called home for nearly 20 years.

Founder of design house Abeille Creations, Mitchell's latest project is a mural beautifully gracing the 17th Street Bridge near Atlantic Station. It is also her largest, she told CBS News Atlanta. 

The mural highlights Atlanta's role as a global sports destination, coming as the city prepares to host eight matches during this summer's FIFA World Cup. 

The project was commissioned by the City of Atlanta through its Moving Atlanta Forward initiative.

"Right now we're getting ready for FIFA, the biggest opportunity of the year," Mitchell said. 

Mitchell says Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens since the very beginning.

"This is a passion of his to make sure that we are beautifully prepared," Mitchell explained. "I said, I'm just going to sketch it, so I put on a playlist, and it took me about three hours, and so once we got it primed, then we started painting."

screenshot-2026-04-10-at-1-07-15-pm.png
CBS News Atlanta

The colorful mural depicts over 100 soccer balls and the flags of the 48 countries playing in the .

The message, though, is bigger than sports.

"I did this on faith," Mitchell said. "Just trust in God. I just want people to be hopeful. This just reminds me that when you're dreaming, you're just not dreaming big enough."

Mitchell, a former Girl Scout, teamed up with more than 100 Girl Scouts to paint the bridge and bring her vision to life.

Mitchell said she wanted to pay them homage in a special way.

"These white lines are actually going to have a small green line in between it, and it's going to be representative of the Girl Scouts, literally weaving the world together," Mitchell said. "And if you look down, there's a Girl Scout trefoil in the design."

The mural will be officially completed and unveiled on Saturday at 2 p.m. in a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. 

Mitchell, Mayor Dickens, and Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta CEO Jai Ferrell will be making remarks.

In:

© 2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=296763317a51cab90faa73f1bb146d5c'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });