Art in Public Spaces Enriches Chattanooga!

In 2003, over 500 citizens attended facilitated public visioning forums on the subject of Public Art in Chattanooga.  These forums resulted in an adoption of an exciting Public Art Plan, the establishment of a mayoral appointed Public Art Committee and a partnership between Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga, the Hunter Museum of American Art, the RiverCity Company, and the City of Chattanooga to oversee and implement the plan. The first public art project was launched in 2005 in conjunction  with the 21st Century Waterfront Plan and the redevelopment of 129 acres along the Tennessee River.  The $120 million dollar plan allocated an unprecedented 1% for public art (1.2 million) and resulted in 3 major public art projects:  the Light Masts on the Chattanooga Pier, the Native American art installation at the Passage, and the First Street Sculpture Garden.

Since the implementation of the plan, the Public Art Program has launched several new exciting programs that include:

• Bi-annual Sculpture Exhibit:  through an international juried competition, large-scale sculptures are selected for placement along First Street and the downtown area to create a rotating outdoor exhibition space.  Several works are purchased each year for inclusion in the city’s permanent public art collection.
• Art on Main: a series of juried rotating outdoor sculpture exhibitions installed along the sidewalks of the newly refurbished streetscapes on Main Street in Chattanooga’s urban core. 
• Art in the Neighborhoods:  With generous support from the Lyndhurst Foundation, this new initiative offers matching grant money to each of the city’s council districts to acquire public art for neighborhoods.
  

Why Public Art?

Chattanooga Public Art Program Director, Peggy Townsend explains, “Public art promotes a vibrant quality of life by fostering community dialogue and creating a sense of place in the spaces in which we live, work, and play.  In realizing Chattanooga as a welcoming progressive city, public art reflects our civic pride and projects the community’s support of artists and related businesses, and the economic benefits of tourism.”

To learn more about the Public Art Program and to become in involved, call Peggy Townsend at 423- 643-6096 or reach her via e-mail at peggywoodtown@gmail.com