Thursday, June 25, 2009

Art Inside and Out on Main this Friday Night

If you’ve been on Main Street in the last few weeks, you’ve probably noticed a few changes.  New outdoor art pieces by talented regional sculptors — some of whom are MakeWork recipients — have been popping up all over our street, with more to come.

This Friday night from 4-7 pm, you can attend two cool arts kick-off events in one fell swoop.  First, the second installment of Public Art Chattanooga’s Art on Main will dedicate seven sculptures by seven different artists in a juried exhibition on display for the next 18 to 24 months.  Additionally, this is the inaugural evening of Last Fridays on Main, a 5 to 7 pm summer-long gallery hop of the Southside which will take place on the last Friday of every month.

From Jim Collins’ pack of stainless steel Dalmatians to Frances McDonald’s collaborative obelisk expressing local homeless people’s concept of “home,” this new outdoor sculpture collection promises a fresh variety of perspectives and mediums to continue visually enriching our neighborhood where the likes of John Petrey and Rey Alfonso began.  Add to that jewelry at Ignis Gallery, furniture at Area 61, and paintings at Gallery 1401, and everyone is bound to find something to suit their fancy.

These two opening receptions will be accompanied by a renaissance of Southside talent, with an eclectic mix of entertainment from the Howard High School Band, Spectrum Jazz Band, and aerial dancer Amy Powell.

Tomorrow night, head down to Main Street and stroll your way through the many galleries and art shops that will be open to showcase their various work. Then, call a local number on your cell and get a guided tour of the outdoor art on foot, or sit back and relax in a $5 horse-drawn carriage ride. And be sure to stop by CreateHere for wine, beer, and light refreshments provided by local bars and eateries.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Talk Shop with Springboard Graduate Aaron Cabeen

Ever fallen in love with a heart pine tabletop at The Terminal?  If your answer is yes, you’ll probably want to free up some afternoon time on your calendar tomorrow.  From 3-6 pm, the one-man custom furniture shop Cabeen Originals will be spraying the dust off the sawhorses and opening his doors for a ribbon-cutting and some light refreshments.  For a chance to meet craftsman Aaron Cabeen and get a peek at what he’s working on, stop by Suite 333 in the Small Business Development Center at 100 Cherokee Blvd.  For more information or to see a portfolio of Cabeen’s work, visit www.cabeenoriginals.com.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

ArtsMove Deadline: Thursday, June 25

CreateHere is pleased to announce that the first deadline for ArtsMove is this Thursday, June 25. This innovative relocation incentive offers up to $2,500 to cover moving expenses, and an opportunity to join a creative community flourishing in the Scenic City.

Phases I-III of ArtsMove helped bring 25 working artists into five neighborhoods throughout Chattanooga’s urban core. Their contribution to our city’s revitalization has been invaluable, their commitment to the arts community unquestionable.

ArtsMove Phase IV encompasses a larger swath of the city—a 3.5 mile radius around downtown, in fact—and we hope the evolution of this program will help us bring even more creatives to Chattanooga’s vibrant arts community.

Full- and part-time artists working in diverse mediums are encouraged to apply for this relocation incentive. Applications are assessed on a bi-monthly basis. Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or visit the application online for more information.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

2020 Vision: YPAC Summit Tomorrow

Where will you be in ten years?  That’s exactly the question that tomorrow’s 2020 YPAC Summit will ask of the entire Chattanooga region.  From 2 pm on, local young professionals from a variety of disciplines will come together to envision the people who’ll fill their shoes a decade from now. 

The Summit will begin with a visit from Mayor Littlefield, followed by a series of breakout sessions covering topics from economics and entrepreneurialism to community affairs.  Our very own Creative Strategist and Co-Founder Josh McManus will be sitting on the 4 pm “Plugging into your Community” discussion panel.  At 5, Former President of Lyndhurst Foundation Jack Murrah will deliver a keynote address, followed by a casual afterparty at The Foundry. Chattanooga Stand surveys will be available throughout the Summit for participants to easily jot down their visioning ideas.

Anyone and everyone is invited to come and contribute to this intriguing glimpse into the future of our city.  Tickets are available for $25 on the YPAC website.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A Delicious Week with The Main Street Farmer’s Market

If you love food, you’re going to be spending a lot of time on Main Street this week. Starting at 4 pm tomorrow, Chattanooga’s area farms, restaurants, and green enthusiasts are bridging the gap between the farm and the city for the New Food Economy Week. Wednesday to Wednesday — June 16 to June 24 — Main Street’s Farmer’s Market will be taking over the Southside with a week full of fun and fulfilling agricultural festivities.

Starting with a dedication at the market’s new location on the corner of Main St and Williams, every day promises a new foodie adventure.

Thursday, catch an outdoor flick about a singing moonshiner, hosted at Neidlovs.

Friday, head to Green|Spaces to chat about kimchee and wine with the legendary chef and author of Wild Fermentation, Sandor Katz.

Saturday, enjoy a delicious Neidlovs breakfast at Greenlife followed by a trip out to Sequatchie Cove, where you’ll get a tour of the farms and a “cheese tasting and sensory evaluation workshop” with cheese connoisseur Nathan Arnold.

Talk Slow Food over a few microbrews at the Terminal on Monday night, and then bring a dish out to Crabtree for a potluck farm tour on Tuesday.

New Food Economy Week is not only an effort to teach people about the benefits of eating fresh and buying local, it’s also an initiative to get the word out about the Main Street Farmer’s Market.

“If our farms can have a successful market place, then it enables them to continue to exist and to protect the land they farm from the ravishes of uncontrolled growth in the rural areas around us,” says organizer Trae Moore. “Our dollars spent on local food is a vote of support for healthier rural landscapes and a healthier earth in general.”

For more information on the New Food Economy Week or The Mains Street Farmer’s Market, visit http://mainstfarmersmarket.com/.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Meet Ali, Guest Blogger Extraordinaire

We think you’ll agree that one of the most exciting parts of living in Chattanooga is the way this town keeps you on your toes, the way things are always changing. In that spirit, we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Ali Burke, CreateHere’s guest blogger for the next month.

Ali recently finished up an English degree at UTC, and is one of the good-natured Young Monsters responsible for a deluge of cool posters and t-shirts around town. She’s an expert in carpentry, and as you’ll soon see, wordsmithing, too. But why be a blogger, with credentials like that?

“What’s great about blogging is that it’s essentially either the initiation or continuance of a dialogue, which makes it a fluid, informal means of conversation that everyone can be a part of,” says Ali.

We couldn’t be happier to have this semi-native Chattanoogan at the reins on this, our most public and consistent means of communicating. Let’s start some conversations, y’all.

Friday, June 12, 2009

We (Still) Believe in Main Street

We recently had the great privilege of hosting food and travel journalists from around the country, and preparing for their visit reminded us of an old, worthy saying: We Believe in Main Street. This area is constantly evolving, and a few recent additions to some already stellar mainstays make this place yet more believable.

Just down the street at the newly opened Alleia, visitors can sample Italian cuisine, made by chef Daniel Lindley, a semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef in the Southeast award. An unexpected surprise for us: restrooms with bronze-cast sculptures marking the doors, and floor to ceiling gestural drawings decorating the interior, all done by local artist and MakeWork grant recipient Cessna Decosimo.

Down the street from Alleia, the Terminal Brewhouse serves some of Chattanooga’s most creative pub fare—with a cheeky menu to boot. Artisanal beer, named in honor of local players and events, is made on-site, in plain view to curious visitors. High ceilings and comfortable booths accent some noteworthy furnishings: all the tables at the Terminal are made by SpringBoard graduate Aaron Cabeen, a local woodworker specializing in reclaimed wood.

For a taste of Chattanooga that’s been around as long as anyone can remember, check out Zarzour’s on Rossville Boulevard, rumored to be Chattanooga’s oldest eatery, serving up a classic meat-and-three for over 75 years and featured today in USA Today. There’s Niedlov’s for coffee and pastries, Taco Rico for El Salvadorian food and pleasant company. Breakfast at Blue Grass Grille. Sushi at Hiroshi’s, beignets at Blue Orleans. The list goes on and on.

We’re proud of Main Street’s culinary delights, but there’s more than just bites on the Southside. Massages at Madia’s, custom stationary at Shadowbox, and handmade home furnishings at Area 61. And that’s just on one block: the Chattanooga Arts Tour program takes visitors to artists studios, around the Southside and beyond.

The saying goes, we believe in Main Street. But it’s more than that: we believe in the creative outlets that exist here, for residents and visitors alike, made possible by a community of innovators and artists. This is a place for arts and culture, for nightlife and daytrips. This is Main Street.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

An ‘Aha Moment’ of Our Very Own

We all have aha moments, times when we make a life-changing decisions based off of an important realization. A leap from a plane, or a jump into a new job. Following a creative calling, or finding ways to make substantial change: these are aha moments worth celebrating and documenting. Luckily, they’re being collected in a national video database.

This past week, our fearless Co-founders and Creative Strategists Helen Johnson and Josh McManus sat down to record their aha moment, talking about their hopes for Chattanooga and the forces that motivate them. Check out the video here, or watch other folks explain their most important moments of clarity and daring.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Leo Handmade: Springboard Graduate Opens for Business

CreateHere is proud to announce the opening of the much anticipated Leo Handmade Gallery, which storms Chattanooga with its unique assortment of hand-crafted wares this Friday.  Owner and Springboard graduate Bridget Miller and her partner John Hall will be hosting a grand opening celebration for this new venture from 2 – 10 pm.

Leo features work by over 50 artists and designers from all over the U.S. and Canada, including local and regional favorites Kitty Dearest, Young Monster, and Tara Harris.  With an emphasis on American handmade apparel and emerging local artists, Leo has also made room for ‘zines, art, prints, and books.

The ribbon-cutting is on Friday at 2 pm and festivities will continue until 10 pm. From 7 pm on, Chad Bledsoe of Chad’s Records on Vine Street will be providing a “weird eclectic mix” of sounds for the celebration — spinning records from his diverse collection. 

Leo is located at 149 River St. under Clumpies facing Coolidge park. 
For more information, visit their blog.

GOOD magazine + Widgets & Stone: Design to Improve Life in Chattanooga

On June 17, national biweekly GOOD magazine will team up with local design studio Widgets & Stone to hold a Design to Improve Life event in Chattanooga.

Building off of the success of GOOD design events in Los Angeles, the magazine’s creative director Casey Caplowe will present with John Bielenberg, founder of Project M, on the power of design to shape positive change.

The objectives of GOOD, as a content provider and communications platform, overlap with the mission of Project M, as an instigator of social action. Both organizations inspire and encourage conscious global citizens to band together around shared convictions and experiences of living well and doing good. The Chattanooga event will be the first time that the two organizations have partnered together.

Also presenting at the event will be a core team of Chattanooga designers, architects, urban planners, businesspeople, academics and more on the results of an intensive 12 hour design project, undertaken alongside GOOD and Project M. Inspired in part by Chattanooga STAND, the design team will select a single identifiable challenge facing downtown Chattanooga and apply its members’ experience and expertise to bring design-based solutions to business and city leaders, as well as to the public.

“The timing couldn’t be more perfect,” says Widgets & Stone senior designer Joseph Shipp, who met the GOOD staff in Luxembourg and proposed the collaboration. “STAND is asking Chattanoogans to speak up about challenges in our community, and then step up and take action. GOOD and Project M have proven a model that works around the world - from Los Angeles to Iceland. We’re delighted that they’ve agreed to visit our city, inspiring us all to help make Chattanooga a better place to live.”

The public event is open to all, at no charge; Wednesday June 17 beginning at 6:00 p.m. at green|spaces, 63 East Main Street Chattanooga.

Widgets & Stone is a design studio that connects business with creativity, designing tools and strategies that benefit economy, communication, innovation and brand. The Design to Improve Life project proclaims and heralds the End of Design (is to improve life).

Project M is an intensive program designed to inspire graphic designers, writers, photographers and other creative people to work for positive and significant impact on the world.

GOOD is an integrated media platform serving people, businesses and NGOs, providing content, experiences and utilities that push the world forward.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

George T. Hunter Lecture Series: Watch John Merrow

On March 3, John Merrow, education correspondent for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, sat down in Chattanooga to discuss the future of education in America. A life-long educator, Merrow has taught at the junior high, high school, college, and graduate level. He is founder and president of Learning Matters, a non-profit, award-winning production company focused on producing outstanding reporting about American education.

Merrow’s lecture, part of the George T. Hunter Lecture series, focused on the recession, and what needs to happen in public education if schools are to stay afloat. Today, that lecture is available for everyone.

The George T. Hunter Lecture series is made possible through support from the Benwood Foundation, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies, and CreateHere, and all events are free and open to the public.

Stay tuned for details on the next George T. Hunter Lecture, featuring Van Jones, president and founder of Green for All. For more information on this series, visit www.benwood.org

Thursday, June 04, 2009

AFFT Chattanooga: Let’s Make Our Town a Film Town

This past Tuesday night, we had the privilege to attend a quarterly panel discussion hosted by the Association for the Future of Film and Television, or AFFT. Featuring local industry leaders, the discussion addressed challenges facing film professionals, and ways to make Chattanooga a film and television town.

The focus of the panel discussion and Q&A was building and sustaining a local on-camera talent pool, and panelists included Rex Knowles and Sherry Landrum of the Professional Actor Training Program at Chattanooga State; Don Raymond of Ambiance Models and Talent, DR Fraley of Agentia Talent, and MakeWork grant recipient Dave Porfiri. Panelists stressed that providing actors with viable professional opportunities was key to retention, and that companies could make a huge impact on the community by sourcing their film needs locally. Educational programs, such as Chatt State’s, are also enormously valuable in creating a film economy locally.

For more information on AFFT’s Chattanooga chapter, visit their website.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

ArtsMove Phase IV: larger footprint + flexible award + new website

CreateHere is pleased to announce that Phase IV of ArtsMove is underway! Phases I-III of this innovative relocation program helped bring 25 working artists into five neighborhoods throughout Chattanooga’s urban core. Their contribution to our city’s revitalization has been invaluable, their commitment to the arts community unquestionable.

The next phase of ArtsMove encompasses a larger swath of the city—a 3.5 mile radius around downtown, in fact—and we hope the evolution of this program will help us bring even more creatives to Chattanooga’s vibrant arts community.

Today, ArtsMove offers up to $2,500 to cover moving expenses, and an opportunity to join a creative community flourishing in the Scenic City. Applications will be accepted on a bi-monthly basis, with the first deadline on Thursday, June 25th.

For more information on the new ArtsMove, check out our updated website. We’re excited to provide new resources and information for anyone making the move to Chattanooga.

Monster Weekend: MakeWork recipient launches clothing line

Our favorite screen printing shop, Young Monster, will be launching a summer line of clothing, accessories, and posters this weekend, at a benefit aptly, epically named “Monster Weekend.”

The Young Monster weekend begins at 10pm on Saturday, June 6 with a rock show at JJ’s Bohemia, featuring Coral Castles, Forest Magic, and Giant Tiger. The Young Monster team will also be selling goods at the Chattanooga Market this Sunday from 12 to 5 pm.

“We are an emerging local design and print collective that supports the best of Chattanooga’s music and design scene through street media. Now we’re launching a killer summer line of clothing,” says MakeWork 2008 grant recipient and Young Monster co-founder Nick DuPey, in a press release promoting the event.

For more information, check out Young Monster’s website. Photo courtesy Young Monster.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Meet the 2009 MakeWork Grant Recipients

CreateHere is pleased to announce the names of 2009’s MakeWork grant recipients. Fashion designers and sculptors, guitar makers and choreographers, this group’s creative diversity speaks to one major truth: Chattanooga is a city with the talent to make great works.

2009 MakeWork grant recipients include, in alphabetical order:

Phillip Allen, DJing
Charles Alison, music production
Verina Baxter, sculpture
Bruce Bennett, guitar making
Carl Cadwell, music
Mary Carrithers, painting
Jill Clark, conceptual art
Amy Clyde, photography
Tim Cofield, film
Kimara Cox, fashion
Cessna Decosimo, sculpture
Isaac Duncan III, sculpture
Matt Evans, folk music
Lindsay Fussell, choreography
Michael Holsomback, painting
Shaun Inman, digital media
Mark Issenberg, pottery
James Courtenay James, painting
Leslie Jensen-Inman, writing
Ron Lowery, photography
Mary Beth McClure, glass
John McLeod, sculpture
Jonathan McNair, music composition
John O’Keefe-Odom, photography
Michael Pack, music production
John Petrey, sculpture
Dave Porfiri, film
Mary Helen Robert, metalsmithing
Brad Shelton, photography
Thomas Spake, glass
Cynthia Watson, printmaking
Stratton Tingle & Jon-Michael Brown, multimedia
Charlie Yowell, glass

MakeWork’s team of independent jurors awarded $301,226—nearly double the initially planned total—thanks to the strength and promise of this year’s applicants, in addition to generous support from the Benwood and Lyndhurst foundations.

In economic hard times, conventional wisdom tells us that creative individuals and enterprises take the deepest cuts; that creative work is, in fact, a dispensable luxury. But CreateHere couldn’t disagree more. We believe the arts are essential to developing and maintaining healthy local economies.

Thank you to everyone who applied, and congratulations to this year’s grant recipients!