The problem with loving a city, we’re told, is that a city can’t love you back. It’s the groupie dilemma, a case of unrequited love writ unimaginably large. Evidence shows: a city won’t return your phone calls, and a city won’t buy you dinner.
As the holidays approach—closing a month-long season of travel—we have beloved cities on our minds. In 2009, CreateHere met more of Chattanooga than ever before, and we’ve shared our space, our hearts, and our heads with cities across the world. From DC to Detroit, Berlin to Birmingham, we’ve found many reasons to city swoon. This love for place, it’s given us a reason to get up every morning.
As a result, we’re boldly refusing conventional wisdom. We believe: cities can love you back. They are sources of inspiration, centers for change, icons of human potential. They give us daily renewal, and they push us into new modes of living. Our city and others: we’re better for knowing them.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the people and cities that populated 2009, making it a wonderful year, here and abroad. Season’s greetings! Go love a city!
Posted by Veronique on 12/17 at 03:54 PM Permalink
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Guest Blog: Melissa Hefferlin’s Vision for Chattanooga Arts
Melissa Hefferlin is one of CreateHere’s board members and an internationally-recognized painter. She brings us this dispatch, with an urgent call to action.
As a mid-career artist in Chattanooga I want to create ways for my colleagues and myself to extend our professional reach beyond our “regional” boundaries. I want to see us stretch into national territory.
Within Chattanooga we have fine collectors, supporters of the arts, and excellent access to high quality, regional publicity, but I believe Chattanooga professional artists can improve in the area of attracting outside attention to our local art scene. I want to figure out how to bring collectors and art lovers here, and to encourage meaningful and practical professional relationships nationally. One idea I have is to create a national painting competition, with both figurative and abstract categories. Imagine the Nobel Prize of painting being held in Chattanooga. I can see it clearly…
Advertising is also on my mind. But it costs a lot of money.
A few years back I emptied Barnes and Nobles of its entire rack of art periodicals, and then telephoned each magazine about pricing for ads. The price for one page, in one issue, ranged from $3,000-$9,000. One intelligent sales rep advised me that size doesn’t matter so much (smile), but what matters most is repetition. He believed that in order for an artist to register in the mind of a potential customer one must be noticed by that customer three times before he or she will take action. Therefore, he encouraged me to buy not one page for $9,000, but a run of three, 1/3-page adds running for three months. I remain grateful for his advice, though we declined the opportunity. I do think repetition is important, though. And I think it’s repetition that will get Chattanooga recognized as a center for the arts.
I’m asking anyone interested in working with me on getting our art scene recognized nationally to contact me via (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Let’s start a conversation: how do mid-career artists widen the perimeters of our work zone? How do we spread the reputation of our rich community? Let’s find out together.
Posted by Veronique on 12/15 at 05:25 PM Permalink
City Share: “Visioning in Real Time” with Russell Stall from Greenville Forward
Wednesday, December 16 is the second installment of City Share, a speaker-based lunch series focused on finding creative solutions to community issues, presented by Chattanooga Stand.
This week, we’ll be featuring Russell Stall, founder and Executive Director of Greenville Forward, an organization that seeks to enhance the quality of life for greater Greenville, SC.
Greenville is a mid-sized city with a metro population of around 600,000, just slightly larger than Chattanooga’s 518,000+. Like Chattanooga, Greenville has undergone a huge transformation in the last few decades, evolving from the “Textile Capital of the World” to a diverse and desirable place through collaborative relationships, creative partnerships and community engagement.
Just ten years ago, Greenville Forward launched its own 25 year visioning campaign for the city of Greenville. And, as the director, Stall is the man who “wakes up every morning thinking about where Greenville is going.”
Please join us Wednesday, December 16 from 12-1 pm at CreateHere, 55 E Main Street.
Lunch will be provided, so you don’t need to bring anything to the table except your ears and your ideas. If you plan to attend, please RSVP by emailing (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
City Share is free and open to the public. Join us every first and third Wednesday of the month from 12-1 pm for light lunch, broad insight, and thoughtful discussion.
Posted by Veronique on 12/15 at 03:09 PM Permalink
On the Map: A Google Mention for Chattanooga 3D
The Chattanooga 3D mapping project, a project spear-headed by Karen Liwanpo and Stephen Culp of SmartFurniture, has received a bit of press since it’s start at 48Hour Launch. Read more about the project on Google’s Sketch-Up blog, or plug in at Chattanooga 3D’s website!
Posted by Veronique on 12/15 at 10:29 AM Permalink
Monday, December 14, 2009
Guest Blog: The Chronicles of CreateHere
Alison Lebovitz is one of CreateHere’s board members, president of One Clip at a Time, and host of WTCI’s “The A List with Alison Lebovitz.” She brings us this dispatch on “We Stand: A Civic Engagement Laboratory,” and specifically, our book drive for local schools.
If you have never had the occasion or inclination to walk into the CreateHere space on Main Street, then you have definitely been missing out on one of Chattanooga’s greatest treasures. Next to Rock City, of course. Walking into CreateHere is sort of like walking through a wardrobe into a modern day Narnia. It is a place filled with so much inspiration, promise and, of course, creativity, that just stepping inside feels almost magical.
But contrary to a fantasy world, this is a real place with genuine ideas, authentic people and true innovation. At a recent meeting there I found myself entrenched in their newest rotating exhibit, “We Stand: A Civic Engagement Laboratory.” It is an amazing interactive experience that combines visionary work with relevant statistical data. And best of all, it reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Confucius who said, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”
Part of the “doing” in this case is a small section that contains a scantily clad bookshelf as part of a community book drive to help collect new or gently used books for students at Battle Academy and Calvin Donaldson Elementary. If you are like me and my husband, there is nothing more exciting than an excuse to rid your house and home of unwanted stuff during this holiday season, and even better if we can tie it into a service project for the kids. And so, this weekend we are cleaning out our own bookshelves and plan to bring a load of books to CreateHere next week to donate to the cause. It will be a great excuse to bring our kids to this urban wonderland, and for them to see this exhibit first-hand.
And while we are there, I think I will give each of them a token for the Art-o-matic – a refurbished cigarette machine that dispenses tiny boxes of artwork instead of smokes. Because the only thing better than visiting Narnia, is taking a piece with you when you leave.
Posted by Veronique on 12/14 at 02:05 PM Permalink
Friday, December 11, 2009
Fellow Ben Johnson: Do Your Holiday Shopping at CreateHere
“Reminds me of the stories my Granpappy would tell me of that gold rush out there in California.”
That’s what longtime Southside resident Walt McClure says about all the people streaming in to CreateHere to buy Art-o-mat pieces. The Art-o-mat is an old cigarette machine, re-purposed to sell small pieces of original artwork. Showcased in five countries, and displaying art from all over the world, the Art-o-mat is a great way to get original pieces of hand-made art as varied and unique as the artists who produce them.
While many of you have purchased a piece or two from our machine in the past, you may not have known that you could share it with your friends. As you come in to CreateHere to stock up on art for yourself, consider purchasing some gift tokens for your friends. At five dollars, they are an inexpensive and unique way to show people how much you appreciate them. “I went in and bought me one for each of my granddaughters,” remarks Walt, “with the way things are lookin’, I betcha there won’t be many left.”
Posted by Veronique on 12/11 at 03:24 PM Permalink
We Stand, We Craft: A Celebration of Handmade Solutions
Next Tuesday, December 15, CreateHere is pleased to host a celebration of Chattanooga’s craft culture, paired with a reception for We Stand: A Civic Engagement Laboratory.
From 7 to 9 pm, we’ll offer space for a Yellow Craft Night featuring seasoned crafters and beginners alike, with guidance from Alison Burke of Young Monster and Bridget Astronette of Leo Handmade. In addition to light winter refreshments, we’ll also have tunes from DJ Peanut, a musician with more than a bit of knowledge about Chattanooga’s craft culture.
All this in the middle of We Stand, an unconventional exhibition of home-grown data visualizations that asks Chattanoogans, what can you do to make this place better? With statistics about air quality, water quality, and school attendance—to name a few—We Stand offers a platform for residents to become more civically engaged.
We Stand is about the power of place, about organizing and collecting around what makes each of us uniquely suited to make this city better. For Yellow Craft we ask visitors to knit change, sew something real and craft the Chattanooga they want for themselves. It’s that simple.
Join us for cider, music, crafts and future-think, Tuesday, December 15 from 7 to 9 pm.
Posted by Veronique on 12/09 at 09:54 AM Permalink
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
SpringBoard presents a Small Business PR Workshop
SpringBoard presents a Small Business PR Workshop this Wednesday, December 9, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at CreateHere.
A smart marketing strategy can make a hopeful business a successful start-up. Bring your current marketing materials for a hands-on workshop and critique. The session is led by celebrated journalist Janis Hashe with a social media component from Veronique Bergeron.
This event is free, but space is limited to 30 individuals. RSVP by contacting Bijan Dhanani at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by calling 423.648.2195.
Posted by Veronique on 12/08 at 09:30 AM Permalink
Monday, December 07, 2009
Local Films from Mainx24
Did you miss some of the events from this year’s Mainx24? Several of Chattanooga’s best videographers participated in a film festival sponsored by ChattaMovieMakers to document all the day’s festivities. Twelve short films have been posted to the site showcasing pieces of the best 24-hours Chattanooga has seen in a long time.
Thanks to MakeWork grant recipient Tim Cofield for helping put together this project!
Posted by Veronique on 12/07 at 04:28 PM Permalink
Thursday with Stand: Street Fight Screening + Community Action
On Thursday, Stand is pleased to be teaming up with Elizabeth Crews to present Street Fight, a documentary film about Cory Booker, the progressive community activist who became the Mayor of Newark, NJ in 2006. The movie screening will be followed by a community conversation in which several local political leaders will discuss their paths to office and ask questions about what it will take to see new leaders emerge and be a part of shaping the future of our communities.
Hailed by the Washington Post as “the best American political documentary since 1993’s The War Room,” the Oscar-nominated documentary Street Fight is a riveting story about the underbelly of American democracy. Directed by Marshall Curry, the film chronicles the bare-knuckles race for mayor of Newark, N.J. between Cory Booker, a 32-year old Rhodes Scholar/Yale Law School grad, and Sharpe James, the four-term incumbent twice his age. Street Fight captures a rarely-seen style of politics that is not about spin-doctors, media consultants, or photo ops. In Newark, we discover, elections are won and lost in the streets.
Elizabeth Crews is a graduate of UTC’s Political Science department who worked as a campaign staffer in Georgia and Ohio during Barack Obama’s presidential run. Crews’ personal mission is to get Chattanoogans more engaged in local politics—from voting in local elections, to running for public office.
“For too long, too many people have turned a blind eye to politics in the region,” says Crews. “As an Obama campaign staffer, I witnessed first hand the power of everyday citizens taking responsibility for their futures. This is a chance for us to start a conversation about how we can create and sustain more involvement in our politics, and our future. ‘m very proud of the Stand organizers’ ability to engage the community in a new way and am looking forward to watching—and participating—as the project moves into a new stage.”
The film will be followed by a brief community conversation facilitated by District 8 Councilman Andrae McGary, Justin Wilkins, the Tennessee director of Organizing for America, the organization that evolved out of the Obama campaign, and Crews herself.
Join Stand and Ms. Crews at green|spaces from 7-9 pm on Thursday, December 10 for beer, snacks, inspirational film-viewing and rousing discussion.
Posted by Veronique on 12/07 at 01:59 PM Permalink
Correction: “The Steps” Premiere Rescheduled
We’ve got good news and bad news, folks. A little bit of bittersweet for your Monday.
We’ve been really excited about the premiere party for The Steps set for December 11, but our plans have been foiled by good news: Creator Dylan Kussman just booked a role on a television pilot that shoots in Louisiana, scheduled for the same week. While we couldn’t be more excited for Dylan, we’re a little disappointed to be missing out on some Chattanooga film-making history.
Word has it, the premiere will be rescheduled for January: we’ll keep you posted on details here. Until then, visit The Steps online to read Charlie Madison’s journal, and hear a few new covers of The Steps theme song, “Red Dress.”
Congratulations, Dylan!
Posted by Veronique on 12/07 at 11:10 AM Permalink
Friday, December 04, 2009
Countdown to Mainx24: The Neighborhood Gets Ready
Main Street is bustling with activity this morning. From volunteer community street clean up, to last minute shop-front decorating, individuals and retailers alike are scurrying around like Santa’s elves, adding final details to the neighborhood that tomorrow hosts an expected 10,000 people of all ages. It’s all for Mainx24, an annual celebration showcasing everything the Southside has to offer.
Niedlov’s Breadworks is one of Main Street’s most popular gems, and the bakers are knee deep in dough as they prepare three times the amount of cookies, cinnamon rolls, muffins and breads than usual. They’ll be open all day, with a special musical performance from Rick Davis at noon.
OCI is abuzz as they construct what Tripp Goodman calls the “Loading Dock of Rock.” The atmosphere there is one of expectation as a monster banner is raised and extra Christmas decor is added to the building, inside and out. OCI hosts a Chili Cook-off, in addition to musical acts throughout the day.
The Well is being constructed at Contrapasso, part of a three-piece art installation that asks viewers to think about the roll of community, globally and locally.
For our part, the fellows are preparing for “1st Down and 24: A Mainx24 Football Watching Party,” by collecting blue and crimson beads, streamers, and megaphones. Representatives from EPB will come in to the studio-turned-football-den today to set-up a state-of-the-art FiTV connection, offering visitors a high-definition viewing experience for the SEC championship game.
The Southside Parade is one of the hallmarks of Mainx24, and organizer Roger Halligan is writing his list and checking it twice: as of today, 25 floats and groups have signed up to march across the Southside. One float is even under construction just across the street from his house!
Volunteers are stopping by Battle Academy all day to deliver homemade pies and cakes for an open house and post-parade party.
Tiffanie Campbell and the Quiddity Team has been working non-stop for the past week at Hill’s Floral to prepare for the Main Event. They’ve rewired the space, and set-up lighting and sound for the big act: internationally acclaimed Mix Master Mike.
Plan to attend the event that boasts 63 different individual events and you’ll see local performance talent strutting their stuff on the street in the busking competition, a few fasionistas for the ChooChoo fashion show, and lots of local bites—including a Link 41 sausage cart. Bring your family and friends, even you four-legged companions for the biggest Mainx24 yet!
Posted by Veronique on 12/04 at 02:16 PM Permalink
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Enter the Mainx24 Mini-Documentary Film Festival!
ChattaMovieMakers is sponsoring a film festival this weekend in conjunction with Mainx24. Want to produce an entry? Here are details from local filmmaker and MakeWork grant recipient Tim Cofield:
1. Show up to Mainx24 this Saturday, December 5, and make your own 1 minute video!
2. Upload it to youtube.com (on your own channel) by Monday, December 7.
3. Send the YouTube link to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we’ll add it to the list to be published on http://createhere.org and http://www.chattamoviemakers.com.
Before you start filming, pick an event you want to cover from the extensive Mainx24 schedule, then check out the ChattaMovieMakers blog to see if it’s already been claimed.
Posted by Veronique on 12/03 at 02:04 PM Permalink
Guest Blog: Story and Craft + Baked Goods this Friday
Rob Yates is senior at Bryan College and organizer for Story and Craft, a monthly lecture series hosted at CreateHere and organized by Bryan. Here, he tells us about this Friday’s event.
Once a month a fellow student and I drop our schoolbooks and bake. This isn’t for a class or because we’re hungry. We bake for Story and Craft.
This year Chris Clark of Bryan College’s film department launched a new program for collegiate filmmakers and other artists in the Chattanooga area. The mission of the program is to provide a monthly opportunity for younger artists to hear from and converse with professional artist in fields such as music, graphic design, writing, and film.
Each month we meet at Create Here in downtown Chattanooga—you may have filled out their survey and received a bright yellow T-shirt this fall. Using their main space as an always-changing art gallery, CreateHere captures a core tenant of art—variety and unrest. By hosting a number of artists to talk about their work, Story and Craft wants to encourage many different expressions of art with an overall appreciation for the effort, expertise, and talent it takes to create such works.
If you’re interested in experiencing Story and Craft, come to Create Here at 7:30pm this Friday. This month’s featured guest is screenwriter, short story writer, and novelist Pinckney Benedict. You may have encountered some of his short stories in publications such as Esquire, Zoetrope: All-Story, StoryQuarterly, or the Ontario Review. Mr. Benedict will lead our discussion via the wondrous Skype.
Come and enjoy some coffee, freshly baked scones, and night of art this Friday at Create Here! Hope to see you there.
Posted by Veronique on 12/03 at 01:39 PM Permalink
