Scenic Roots

(UTC) (Aired Weds 2/26/25) This time of year, photography is the star here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Photo Night is an annual showcase for photography - from professionals and students - presented by UTC’s Department of Communication. This year’s showcase is Wednesday, March 5th, starting at 6 PM, in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Center. Billy Week...

Liam Phillips, left, as Billy Cane and Miller Richardson, right, as Margo Crawford in UTC Theatre Co.’s production of “Bright Star.” (UTC Theatre Co.) (Aired Tues 2/25/25) More than a decade ago, Steve Martin collaborated on a bluegrass album. The title song - “Love Has Come For You” - earned a Grammy, and their work inspired a musical: “Bright Star” - about a literary editor with a painful past w...

The Arts Building in downtown Chattanooga. (Doug Barnette) (Aired Tues 2/25/25) As Chattanooga grows, so does the need for dedicated spaces for its performing arts community. ArtsBuild - the nonprofit that supports the arts here in Chattanooga and Hamilton County - recently announced the launch of a comprehensive feasibility study to assess the need for a community performing arts center. James Mc...

Meghan Talarowski (Sahar Coston-Hardy) (Aired Tues 2/25/25) Meghan Talorowski is serious about play and playgrounds. She’s the founder and executive director Studio Ludo, a nonprofit based in Philadelphia whose mission is “building better play through research, design, and advocacy.” On Thursday, Meghan will be the next speaker at CIVIQ, the quarterly series presented by Chattanooga Design Studio...

Outside Barking Legs Theater in Chattanooga. (Barking Legs Theater) (Aired Weds 2/12/25) On the night before Valentine’s Day, an unconventional open mic at Barking Legs Theater in Chattanooga explores journeys of the heart. The show - “These Troubled Hearts,” a presentation of “The Floor of Yours” - is on Thursday, starting at 7 PM. Marcus Ellsworth and Hope Holloway - aka Hocus - are the hosts an...

Dr. Michael Williams (UTC) (Aired Weds 2/12/25) For this Black History Month, an Africana scholar at Temple University in Philadelphia speaks on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The lecture by Prof. Molefi Kete Asante is Thursday, starting at 6:30 PM in the University Center Auditorium on campus - free and open to the public. Dr. Michael Williams is a professor of history -...

Sarah Dolgin (Chattanooga Times Free Press) (Aired Weds 2/12/25) These days, how do you keep up with - and try to make sense of - the waves of headlines on politics and policy in Washington and Nashville, and how they resonate here in Southeast Tennessee? It takes an “Open Door.” That’s the name of a weekly email newsletter - out on Thursdays - recently launched by The Chattanooga Times Free Press...

(Thrive Regional Partnership) (Aired Weds 2/12/25) In this corner of the Southeast, Thrive Regional Partnership reaches 16 counties where Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia meet - including the Greater Chattanooga area. The nonprofit’s mission: to cultivate what it calls “responsible and inspired growth.” Last week, Thrive’s Freight Mobility Committee - a group of public officials and representatives...

Maria Jordania (LVNDR) at TEDxChattanooga’s Sessions II in October 2024 at Songbirds in Chattanooga. (TEDxChattanooga) (Aired Thu 2/06/25) Maria Jordania - who performs as LVNDR - is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Chattanooga. Last October, she was among the featured artists at Songbirds for TEDxChattanooga’s Sessions II - a mix of music and storytelling with a listening room v...

An urban forester at work in the City of Chattanooga. (City of Chattanooga) (Aired Thu 2/06/25) Here in Chattanooga, the Urban Forestry program is one of the quieter departments in city government. But the office - tucked inside the squat Public Works building on East 11th Street - has a major responsibility: keeping thousands of trees healthy and safe for residents. William Newlin of Chattamatter...

A grave at Pleasant Garden Cemetery in Chattanooga. (Pleasant Garden Cemetery / Facebook) (Aired Thu 2/06/25) On Chattanooga’s Missionary Ridge, you’ll find one of the oldest historically Black cemeteries in Tennessee. Pleasant Garden Cemetery was recently nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, thanks to a vote by the Tennessee Historical Commission. Opened in 1891, Pleasant Garden...

Mon Rovîa at TEDxChattanooga’s Sessions II in October 2024 at Songbirds in Chattanooga. (TEDxChattanooga) (Aired Weds 2/05/25) Mon Rovîa describes himself this way: “Afro Appalachian folk artist. Rescued by grace from the Civil War in Liberia - here to instill peace.” Last October, he was one of the musicians who performed and told his story at TEDxChattanooga’s Sessions II at Songbirds. Watch: Mo...

Abe Houck at TEDxChattanooga’s Sessions II in October 2024 at Songbirds in Chattanooga. (TEDxChattanooga) (Aired Tues 2/04/25) Next month, TEDxChattanooga returns to present its first event for 2025. Sessions - showcasing local musicians and their ideas worth spreading - takes place at Songbirds on Friday, March 28th. The lineup: Randy Steele, Bindy and Fawley. Last year, TEDxChattanooga hosted tw...

The Joel W. Solomon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Chattanooga. (Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress) In the next few years, a new home for the Federal courthouse here in Chattanooga will be built on Vine St. It will replace the Joel W. Solomon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on Georgia Avenue across from Miller Park. The massive white marble building - constructed duri...

(Oak Street Playhouse) For a Broadway musical, “I Do! I Do!” is spare. Two actors - a man and a woman - play a married couple, from newlyweds on their wedding day to when they sell their home fifty years later. Their bedroom is the only set - with a large four-poster bed as the centerpiece. “I Do! I Do!” is now on stage through Sunday at the Oak Street Playhouse Theatre here in Chattanooga - as ou...

Dr. Claudia Kramer (Angela Foster / UTC) How do economics - and etiquette - share a path that spells success for a civil society? Next week, a panel discussion here on our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - will explore that question. “Economics and Etiquette” is Thursday, February 27th, starting at 11 AM, at the Wolford Family Athletic Center. Dr. Claudia Kramer is the Scott L....

The Jewish Cultural Center in Chattanooga. (Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga) Amit Yagur and Noga Hila Motana live in an area of Israel that shares a bond with the Jewish community here in Chattanooga. That bond has only deepened since the attack of October 7th, 2023 and its aftermath up to today. Amit and Noga are among those traveling from Israel to Chattanooga for a dinner on Tuesday, s...

Voices from Israel to tell their stories here in Chattanooga. Talking “Economics and Etiquette” on the UTC campus. “I Do! I Do!” - the musical on stage at Oak Street Playhouse. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Neena Wang (Stove Works) On a clear night, when you can see the constellations in the sky, the stars can appear ever close and yet ever far. For Neena Wang, the constellations are “our oldest ancestors.” Neena is a multidisciplinary artist from Memphis who now lives and works in Los Angeles. She is the curator of “Celestial Bodies” at Stove Works here in Chattanooga. The new exhibition opens on Fr...

Copies of “For Colored Girls…” (NoogaVision Theatre & Performing Arts Co.) In dramatic expression, a choreopoem blends poetry, music, dance and song. The word was coined a half-century ago by the writer of the work “For Colored Girls…” - now on stage here in Chattanooga. This past Sunday, NoogaVision Theatre and Performing Arts Co. began to present its production for its “On Sundays We Bru...

Michael Dzik, third from front on right - and Lorri Lipski, second from front on right - at a meal during their trip to the Hadera-Eiron region of Israel, about 25 miles north of Tel Aviv. (Partnership2Gether Hadera-Eiron SE Consortium / Facebook) Partnership2Gether - known as “P2G” - connects Jewish communities within Israel and Jewish communities around the world, including here in Chattanooga a...

From Chattanooga to Israel through Partnership2Gether. “For Colored Girls”: A production full circle for NoogaVision. “Celestial Bodies”: Art to illuminate on display at Stove Works. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Dr. Robert Dooley - in the podcasting space at the Gary W. Rollins College of Business in Fletcher Hall at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. (Angela Foster / UTC - January 2025) For this episode, we bring you the latest in our monthly series “Chatting with Chancellor.” Last week, I sat down for a one-on-one conversation with Dr. Robert Dooley, Interim Chancellor here on our campus - the...

Student Diana Valasquez adds a chemical during a demonstration at UTC’s College of Engineering and Computer Science Open House in 2018. (UTC) Engineering is a hands-on discipline. So is the quest for the next generation of engineers. This weekend, our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - hosts an E-Week Open House, for students k-through-12 and their families in this area. It take...

(Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center) At a nature preserve, the night can be as full of activity as the day. Think of hikes by moonlight, Red Wolf howls, owl prowls and gazing at the stars. That’s what you’ll find at Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center in Chattanooga - which hosts “Follow the Fire” on Saturday, starting at 5 PM. Mark McKnight is president and CEO of Reflection...