06/03/2026
On June 3, 1962, one hundred and six of Atlanta’s most committed arts patrons perished when their plane crashed during takeoff at Orly Field. They were returning home from a three-week cultural excursion to France. In the wake of this terrible loss, Atlanta came together to honor the victims. Through a then anonymous gift from Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff, the Arts Center was established as a memorial to the lives lost at Orly. The French government presented a gift of Rodin’s “The Shade” in memory of the Orly victims. Today the sculpture stands outside the High’s Stent Family Wing.