As Atlanta prepares to take center stage as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Emory University is showing some fancy footwork of its own, delivering exhibitions, programs, events and experiences that showcase Atlanta’s rich soccer history and world-renowned hospitality.
Emory is also joining forces across its campuses and with civic leaders, government agencies, industries, and nonprofits to develop a dynamic lineup of programs that celebrate soccer’s power to unite. From Atlanta’s professional soccer roots in the 1960s to its current status as a global hub of the game, Atlanta provides the perfect backdrop for these community-centered experiences. Designed to foster student growth, create meaningful connections across our communities, and generate lasting value for partners citywide, these initiatives aim to elevate the 2026 World Cup for everyone involved, including those visiting the city for the first time.
This initiative is anchored by three interconnected exhibitions across our campuses, which highlight the importance of soccer to the history and culture of Emory, the region, and the world.
Footwork is more than just an exhibition—it’s a celebration of sport, style, scholarship, and the spirit of a city ready to welcome the world.
Emory’s Main Campus
Footwork: Celebrating Soccer, Culture, and Community | Schatten Gallery of Woodruff Library
Presented by Emory Libraries, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, and Emory Center for Digital Scholarship, our latest exhibition covers the full pitch of soccer, culture, and identity. Drawing on Emory’s academic expertise, rich collections, and global partnerships (think sneaker culture influencers and community collaborators), the exhibition explores Atlanta’s interconnected stories of soccer, civil rights, and globalism from 1968 to today — helping us understand how our regional identity, our team, and even our sneakers express who we are.
Randy Gue, Rose Library’s assistant director of collection development and curator of political, cultural and social movements, co-curated the exhibition in collaboration with Melissa Carnegie, founder of Kicks & Fros, a Charlotte, NC-based lifestyle brand that educates and inspires Black and Brown women in the sneaker community.
The exhibition will feature a selection of Rose Library items that highlight the deep cultural and historical significance of soccer across generations and communities in Atlanta, including memorabilia, historical photos and other artifacts documenting the formation of the Atlanta Chiefs and the National Professional Soccer League, as well as its merger with the United Soccer Association to form the North American Soccer League. It will also feature a variety of clothing items from deep in the adidas archives that demonstrate how the World Cup, sports performance, and streetwear fashion have developed in concert. Gue and Carnegie will also participate in a public curatorial conversation—sharing perspectives on how they have preserved, nurtured, and loved this game in their own unique way—alongside powerful reflections from students on why the game, the World Cup, and sports at large bring us together.
Footwork: Where We Gather | Michael C. Carlos Museum
Where We Gather pairs historical sports photography by Walter Iooss Jr. with a new body of work by Atlanta-based photographer Sheila Pree Bright. Iooss’s photographs provide the jumping off point — the plays that inspired the roar of the crowd — while Bright’s work focuses on the fans themselves, the spaces where they gather, documenting how sport can build a community and family that not only supports a team, but one another.
Emory’s Oxford Campus
Footwork Firsts | Second Floor Gallery in Oxford Library
Footwork Firsts spotlights pioneering moments in both Oxford’s soccer program and diversity efforts, including stories of Oxford’s first African American athletes and the early women’s soccer program. Curated by Oxford College archivist Kerry Bowden and student curators Dylan Singer and Claudia Fodor, this exhibition also exhibits soccer-related student photography curated by Tasha Dobbin-Bennett, associate professor of art history.