So much great art is right around the corner: on walls, on the streets, and in the sculpture gardens
Sometimes it is nice to deflect life for a few minutes to take a moment to look around, to stop and smell the roses if you will. Chattanooga is an incredible city that is flowing with multifarious beauty.
Even with the endless views, and the diversity of the landscape that surrounds Chattanooga as a whole, another aspect that nests inside of the scenic city produces an inestimable boon; the public art features that sporadically covers its entirety, coagulates with the city’s natural beauty to make it perhaps one of the most aesthetic places in the world.
The public artwork ranges from guerrilla art, produced by the local hidden talent, to artwork that is produced by world renowned artists, and everything in between. A person could spend days scouring the city to locate all of the public artwork, and still fall short of discovering it all. One of the most fascinating places in Chattanooga for public art is the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park, which is a 33-acre International sculpture park that is free to the public daily from dusk to dawn.
The Sculpture Fields offer much to the public and host a multitude of events and happenings that focus on expanding the local art community. With celebrity local sculptor John Henry as a board member and activist for the Sculpture Fields, the grounds continue to be a cultural tourism attraction. While the enormous exhibit does host work by local artists, what separates it from the other local sculpture garden is the above mid-range sizes of the sculptures, and the international aspect.
Other notable sculpture fields are the River Gallery Sculpture Garden by landscape architect Joe Baasch. The fixture is a two-acre outdoor exhibit located in the bluff view, and is one of the most imposing private collections of contemporary American sculpture, and is included in the Smithsonian Archives of American Garden; as well as the First Street Sculpture Garden at First and Market Streets downtown.
The staggering mural on the AT&T Building on MLK is a landmark that towers over the downtown area and is a masterpiece. The roughly 42,000 square foot example of public art that took a group of eleven artists six months to paint, with Meg Saligman as the lead artist. The message of community and unity blares from the mural, and many people from the MLK Community are featured on the mural.
While on the topic, murals are sporadically everywhere around the city, the rogue artwork demonstrates some of the talents that reside in Chattanooga. Where it is nearly impossible to list even a percentage of them, the Facebook group chastreetart is a fantastic guide to locate many of them.
It is recommended for the unaware to check out all of Rondell Crier, Shaun LaRose, and the Artist Seven’s mural work. Impressive is an understatement. Other notable murals are the Glass Street mural and the murals associated with the McCallie Ave Walls Project. Learn more at facebook.com/McCallieWalls.
Another prime example of Chattanooga public art is the Passageways. It is a community outreach project of the 2016 AIA Tennessee State Convention. It is a public architecture exhibit focusing on the urban fabric that exists in the space between our city’s buildings. The intent of the exhibit is to exemplify the potential of these spaces and the benefits they have in creating a healthy urban environment throughout Chattanooga.
All five winning installations can be found on the 700 blocks of Broad, Market and Cherry Streets in Downtown Chattanooga.” Ypu can learn more at passagewayschattanooga.com.
The Hunter Museum of American Art is responsible for acquiring and publicly demonstrating a wide variety of works all over the city, including three permanent installations at Renaissance Park on the river, and Chattanooga is blessed to have such a quality provider of public art on its team. For the complete listing visit huntermuseum.org/outdoor-sculptures.
The city’s art program is doing an excellent job of providing public art for this glorious city. For a list of all of their collections, projects, and exhibits, please visit chattanooga.gov/Public-Art.
It is a spectacular time to live in Chattanooga with the bustling, and diverse arts scene, amongst everything else that the city has to offer. For those that feel like life is just too hectic and busy to appreciate the public art that engulfs Chattanooga should make it a point to hit the pause button on life, and take the time to appreciate all of the stunning public art available.
Take a weekend or two and explore, fill your hearts with art, spark the fire inside that surely once held great admiration for the beauty that is art. There are not many places in existence that have this much public art available, so much that people can spend multiple weekends chasing and still not see it all.
Take advantage Chattanooga, unlock the beauty beyond the scenic views.