Scenic Roots

Glass pieces on display in Anna Safley Houston’s favorite shade: Cranberry. (Houston Museum of Decorative Arts) Here in Chattanooga, the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts hosts one of the premier antiques shows in the South. With the Museum under renovation and now operating out of a nearby pop-up space, its Annual Antiques Show and Sale for this year comes to the Signal Ballroom at the Choo-Choo...

Improv Chattanooga at Barking Legs Theater in Chattanooga. (Improv Chattanooga) Improv is about listening - to yourself and your audience. It’s about practice - whatever your experience and wherever you perform. Above all, improv is about a sense - and spirit - of play. In this area, Improv Chattanooga aims to spread the joy of this craft to everyone and for everyone. Jason Parker is the nonprofit...

“Yes, and…": The joy of freeform at Improv Chattanooga. At The Signal: The Houston Museum’s Antiques Show & Sale. Beyond Sunset: “Follow The Fire” at Reflection Riding. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(Scenic Stitches) When you weave yarn and fabric into fine art, what you get is fiber art. This weekend, the first Scenic Stitches Fiber Festival premieres in downtown Chattanooga - on Saturday and Sunday at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Courtney Cox is the founder of Scenic Stitches, the fiber arts business behind the festival. (Scenic Stitches)

Jennifer Daniels, Wolf Trap teaching artist through UTC’s Arts-Based Collaborative, paying a classroom visit. (Jennifer Daniels) For teaching artists, the classroom is the stage - and children and educators are the audience. Singer-songwriter Jennifer Daniels of Lookout Mountain is one of the teaching artists in the Wolf Trap program at the Arts-Based Collaborative here on our campus, the Universi...

The Bessie Smith Cultural Center in downtown Chattanooga. (The Bessie Smith Cultural Center) For this Black History Month, art, tradition, film, sports and music are on the calendar that begins Saturday at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in downtown Chattanooga. Elijah Cameron is with The Bessie. (The Bessie Smith Cultural Center)

On the path of what will become the Alton Park Connector urban trail project in Chattanooga. (Doug Strickland / The Trust for Public Land) An urban trail project is taking shape in South Chattanooga that will link the Alton Park neighborhood with the city’s system of trails. When completed, the Alton Park Connector will stretch more than two-and-a-half miles from the Riverwalk to Clifton Hills Ele...

The Alton Park Connector project in South Chattanooga. At The Bessie, this Black History Month for one and for all. Music for their minds: Song as a teaching artist’s tool. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(CASA) Across the country, community volunteers appointed by judges serve as advocates for abused and neglected children. They are known as Court Appointed Special Advocates - or CASA - for Children, and they complete training by their state or local CASA office. In Northwest Georgia, Chelsea DeWaters is program manager for the Murray / Whitfield CASA - based in Dalton, serving Murray and Whitfiel...

(Chattanooga Festivals of Black Arts and Ideas) A journey through Africa’s royal past - filled with stories, dance and music - arrives next week at The Howard School here in Chattanooga. “Alkebulan: The Mother of Mankind” - on stage at Howard on Friday, February 7th and Saturday, February 8th - is this year’s offering by the August Wilson Playmakers Festival, part of the Chattanooga Festivals of B...

The Wolford Family Athletic Center at UTC. (UTC) A conversation on “The Economics of Sports” comes next week to our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It takes place on Thursday, February 6th - starting at 11:30 AM - at the Wolford Family Athletic Center on 720 E. 4th St. Dr. Claudia Kramer is the Scott L. Probasco, Jr. Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise - and a Professor of E...

Elijah Cameron & Dr. Michael Williams (UTC) Each year, soon after the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, our campus - the University of Tennessee - hosts its own reflection on the life and legacy of the civil rights leader. This year, UTC will hold an MLK Day commemorative brunch with the theme “Remembering the Past and Embracing the Future” - on Friday, starting at 11 AM, in the Tenness...

MLK Day 2025 at UTC: Dr. Michael Williams & Elijah Cameron. Coming to UTC: A conversation on “The Economics of Sports.” “Alkebulan: The Mother of Mankind” at The Howard School. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Somerset Tea plantation office and flame trees in the jungle, near Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka - 1993 color coupler print by Virginia Beahan and Laura McPhee. (Bank of America Collection via Hunter Museum of American Art) More than a half century ago, the first Earth Day was held in this country - known as the start of today’s environmental movement. This week, a new exhibition at the Hunter Museum of...

(Mayor’s Council for Women) Next week, the Statewide Women’s Policy Conference returns to downtown Chattanooga. It happens Thursday, February 6th and Friday, February 7th at The Westin Chattanooga - presented by the Chattanooga Mayor’s Council for Women. This year’s conference will be held in honor of Dr. Carol Berz, who died last month. She was the conference chairwoman, a member of the Chattanoo...

The Blue Angels in flight. (Rob Stone / Amazon Prime courtesy IMAX Corporation and Dolphin Entertainment, Inc.) Through their flight aerobatics in the sky, the Blue Angels showcase the excellence in aviation of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Capt. Greg Wooldridge, now retired Navy, is the only commanding officer - or “Boss” - to have led the Blue Angels for three separate tours. He’s executive pr...

Soaring in the sky: Blue Angels Capt. Greg “Boss” Wooldridge. This year’s Statewide Women’s Policy Conference in Chattanooga. “The Long View”: Art on the environment at the Hunter. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

From last year’s “Sunday Showcase” on stage at UTC. (Performing Arts League) Young performers gather this weekend for this year’s Sunday Showcase on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The showcase of choral and instrumental music, dance, drama and musical theater - which supports the nonprofit Performing Arts League - is Sunday, starting at 3 PM, in the Fine Arts Center here a...

A rehearsal for “Love / Sick” at Chattanooga Theatre Centre. (Chattanooga Theatre Centre) A few years ago, Chattanooga Theatre Centre presented “Almost, Maine” - described as one of the most popular plays performed across the country. “Love / Sick” is another work by the same playwright - and on Friday, starting at 7:30 PM, that play premieres at CTC, recommended for ages 13 and up. Jason Russell...

(Rhyme 'N Chatt) What do an anthology, a podcast and a “Love Groove” have in common? Here in Chattanooga, they are just a few of the latest creative offerings from Rhyme ‘N Chatt Interactive Poetry Organization. Marsha and Carlos Davis are with Rhyme ‘N Chatt.

Dr. Justin Robertson, Superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, with students at the launch of the Chattanooga Future Fund. (Hamilton County Schools) How much does it cost to kickstart saving the money for a child’s potential to learn after high school? That’s the promise of the Chattanooga Future Fund, a five-year pilot program launched today at Red Bank Middle School by the nonprofit Chattanoog...

Seed money for later learning: The Chattanooga Future Fund. “One Rhyme At A Time”: A Rhyme ‘N Chatt podcast - on WUTC. “Love / Sick”: Next on stage at Chattanooga Theatre Centre. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Dr. Robert Dooley, UTC’s Interim Chancellor and Dean of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business. (UTC) On January 1st, Dr. Robert Dooley began a new role as Interim Chancellor here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dr. Dooley, a two-time alum of UTC, has served as Dean of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business since 2011. On this episode - and on the third Tuesday of each...

Chattanooga Public Library (Chattanooga Public Library) (Aired Thu 1/16/25) Last month, the Chattanooga Public Library unveiled “The Discovery Collection” - offering books, materials and tutoring to help improve adult literacy. People can check out the collection at any Library location - thanks to a partnership between the Library, the Mary Walker Historical and Education Foundation and the Tenne...

(Narrative 4 National Schools Network) (Aired Thu 1/16/25) Narrative 4 is a global storytelling organization that works with educators, artists and students to make connections, break stereotypes and spur positive change. The nonprofit uses what it calls a “story exchange” to create curiosity and empathy in a first-person format - and recently, it selected Chattanooga as one of just eight Focus Ci...