Scenic Roots

(Creative Arts Guild) Colleen Laliberte is a storyteller who lives, breathes and shares many forms of art - as a performer, director, writer and puppeteer. She has worked with children at Siskin Early Learning Center here in Chattanooga as a professional learning coach and teaching artist - in a learning residency through the Wolf Trap program at UTC’s Southeast Center for Education in the Arts.

Lee Smith is a New York Times bestselling author whose new book is titled “Blue Marlin.” On Sunday at 3 PM, Southern Lit Alliance here in Chattanooga will host what it calls “A Book and A Bottle” event on Zoom where Lee will talk about her book. I spoke with Lee - and Lynda LeVan of Southern Lit Alliance.

(#ICantBreatheCha) A month after the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis - and everything that has happened since, both here in the Chattanooga area and across the nation - where do we go from here? That’s a question I heard yesterday during a discussion that included two scholars on our campus, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Chandra Ward is assistant profes...

A month after George Floyd’s death:  Where do we go from here? Author Lee Smith and Lynda LeVan of Southern Lit Alliance. Colleen Laliberte on teaching through the arts for UTC’s SCEA. These voices - and more - on this edition of "Scenic Roots."

On this week’s “Talking Writing,” Richard Winham speaks with Rachel Landrum Crumble, poet and teacher.

(Townsend Atelier) Townsend Atelier here in Chattanooga is partnering with the Tennessee River Gorge Trust to celebrate the power of the small things that live and thrive in the Gorge. Eight visual artists in this area have created artwork that will be on view tomorrow in for a livestream event - and the proceeds will benefit the Gorge. I spoke with Peggy Townsend of Townsend Atelier and Alishea H...

Rosana Hughes covers crime, the courts and breaking news in our area for The Chattanooga Times Free Press. And lately, there has been a lot to cover on that beat - from investigations of law enforcement misconduct to the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis to the protests here in Chattanooga - and more. Last week, we had a conversation beyond the headlin...

Rosana Hughes of The Chattanooga Times Free Press. How art supports the Tennessee River Gorge Trust. This week’s Talking Writing:  Rachel Landrum Crumble. These voices - and more - on this edition of "Scenic Roots."

(theblackfeathers.com) From our own Richard Winham, a sampling from Barking Legs Theater of The Black Feathers - Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler - the English duo who shared their brand of Americana music via livestream from the UK over the weekend.

(Dynamo Studios) Dynamo Studios here in Chattanooga provides students and musicians with educational experiences built around music production and the arts. Kessler Cuffman is the executive director - he’s also a teacher at Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts.   I spoke with him last month...

Dynamo Studio's Kessler Cuffman on making music. From Barking Legs Theater:  The Black Feathers. These voices - and more - on this edition of "Scenic Roots."

(StoryCorps / WUTC) Today on Tennessee Valley StoryCorps, Alexis Hoover and her wife, Jessica Hoover. Tennessee Valley StoryCorps brings you conversations from people who went to the StoryCorps recording booth in Chattanooga's Miller Park in the spring of 2019. You can subscribe to the Tennessee Valley StoryCorps podcast on iTunes or Google Podcasts and never miss an episode. This series is produc...

Our own Richard Winham presents a sampling of QuaranTunes at Noon from WoodSongs Dalton:  Jennifer Daniels, singer/songwriter - and her husband Jeff Neal.

(Cempa) On Thursday, restaurants here in Chattanooga will partner with Cempa Community Care to support the fight against HIV here in the Tennessee Valley - with the annual “Dining Out For Life.” Mitzi Ward is development and events coordinator at Cempa.

(Chattanooga Theatre Centre) Chattanooga Theatre Centre is looking forward in more ways than one, while affected by - and adjusting to - life under COVID-19. Mitch Collins is board president of CTC.

Matt Busby is director of The Camp House - and pastor of cultural engagement for The Mission Chattanooga. In a podcast this month, he talked about systemic racism - and Chattanooga’s own history.

The Camp House's Matt Busby on systemic racism. Mitch Collins of Chattanooga Theatre Centre's next move. Cempa's Mitzi Ward on this year's "Dining Out For Life." These voices - and more - on this edition of "Scenic Roots."

On this week's "Scenic Roots:  Live In The Library," Richard Winham presents a performance by Kimmie J. Soul and friends - recorded last year in the downtown Chattanooga Public Library.

Beth and Becky Hetzel are sisters who own a working art studio and gallery in Cleveland, Tennessee. On Saturday, they will hold a grand reopening at their new location on Main Street. Works by more than 20 artists will be on display - all to benefit Hetzel Art Studio and Gallery.

(Bridge Refugee Services Chattanooga) Saturday is World Refugee Day. This year, Bridge Refugee Services Chattanooga will hold a virtual celebration - called “World Refugee Day:  Together at Home.” It starts at Noon on Facebook and YouTube - featuring stories from refugees, language lessons, fashion and music. Marina Peshterianu is associate director of Bridge Refugee Services Chattanooga.

(Roe Anderson) Roe Anderson - born and raised here in Chattanooga - is the founder of Girl Stance, a nonprofit that teaches yoga to young black girls. On Saturday, she will be cohosting a pop-up yoga with Madia Swicord - following the COVID-19 guidelines - at Riverfront Park, starting at 9 AM.

(Chattanooga Festival of Black Arts & Ideas) Back in March, the Chattanooga City Council designated Juneteenth as a day of commemoration known as “Juneteenth Independence Day.” On Friday evening, 155 red, black and green Pan-African flags will be posted along the Walnut Street Bridge - the number representing each year since emancipation after the end of the Civil War in 1865. Flag bearers - f...

(UTC) Another virtual celebration of Juneteenth tomorrow comes from our campus - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The “Speak Out For Freedom” video screening begins at 5 PM on Zoom - featuring African-American students, faculty and staff. Chris Stokes is UTC’s Assistant Director of Multicultural Affairs.

(JosiahGolson. Com) Tomorrow is Juneteenth - commemorating the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War. Josiah Golson is an artist, lawyer and writer here in Chattanooga who founded The 800 Collective - a diverse group of artists who use their art to spark civic engagement. Tomorrow, at Noon on Facebook and at 1 PM on Instagram, he will read his work - “The Souls of Free Folk.” (Ca...

(The Ed Johnson Project) Construction began recently here in Chattanooga on The Ed Johnson Memorial at the Walnut Street Bridge. In 1906, Johnson - a 24-year-old Black man - was lynched on that bridge. Work on the memorial now takes place in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis - and protests here in Chattanooga and across the country against police b...