Scenic Roots

Painting a mural on one of the walls of EPB’s 10th St. substation. (EPB & River City Company) Over the past three years in downtown Chattanooga, local artists have added murals to three of the walls of EPB’s substation on 10th St. Now, EPB and community partners such as ArtsBuild are inviting artists to submit their proposals to create murals for the fourth and final side of the substation...

(City of Chattanooga) Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - the holiday that honors the life and legacy of the civil rights leader. That’s when Chattanooga will hold its annual Day of Service - with volunteers participating in community projects, followed by a parade. (City of Chattanooga) On Friday, our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - will hold its annual MLK Day event - o...

In Chattanooga, honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy. Home stretch for community murals at EPB’s 10th St. substation. SoundBites: No Thank You John, Monoliths, Klark Kint - & more. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Louis Varnell, in “WWI: The Not-So-Great War.” (Chattanooga Theatre Centre) The upheavals and traumas of World War I - dubbed “The Great War” more than a century ago - reverberate in today’s geopolitical conflicts. Louis Varnell is a military historian who will present a one-person show this month on that war - geared for students and open to the general public - at Chattanooga Theatre Centre. “Wo...

“Moonrise” by Marc Fornes at the Wheland Foundry Trailhead on the Tennessee Riverwalk - the latest addition to Chattanooga’s outdoor public art collection. (Public Art Chattanooga) Chattanooga is home to nearly 200 pieces of outdoor public art. The Ed Johnson Memorial in front of the Walnut St. Bridge, the big blue rhino in Coolidge Park and the Aquarium Plaza have become city icons. But, they’re...

Karla Valdivieso, founder and CEO of Shappi. (Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce) If you live in or travel to Central or South America, it can be difficult to ship consumer goods that are exclusive to this country to those corners of the world. Yes, mail is an option - but service takes forever and has its pitfalls. Amazon delivery from here to there? Forget it. Brick-and-mortar U.S. stores on t...

Karla Valdivieso, founder & CEO of Shappi in Chattanooga. From Chattamatters: The lifespan of outdoor public art. World War I revisited with Louis Varnell on stage at CTC. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

DeJuan Jordan (TEDxChattanooga) DeJuan Jordan is the co-CEO of LAUNCH, which supports underserved entrepreneurs in Chattanooga. Her talk at TEDxChattanooga’s flagship event in November at Barrelhouse Ballroom: “Awaken to the Power of Your Words.” Watch it here. For more about TEDxChattanooga, visit tedxchattanooga.com - and tedxchattanooga on Instagram.

Greg Funderburg (TEDxChattanooga) From TEDxChattanooga’s flagship event in November at Barrelhouse Ballroom, here’s Greg Funderburg - an award-winning journalist, a podcast host and former TV anchor at NewsChannel 9 - on “The Awakening Power of Kitchen Table Conversations.” Watch it here. For more about TEDxChattanooga, visit tedxchattanooga.com - and tedxchattanooga on Instagram.

Christine DiPietro (TEDxChattanooga) And now, another speaker from TEDxChattanooga’s flagship event, held at Barrelhouse Ballroom in November. Here’s Christine DiPietro - startup veteran in Chattanooga and beyond - on “Awakening to the Natural World.” Watch it here. For more about TEDxChattanooga, visit tedxchattanooga.com - and tedxchattanooga on Instagram.

Hudson Brock (TEDxChattanooga) This week, we are sharing some of the voices from the latest talks by TEDxChattanooga, held in November at Barrelhouse Ballroom. Here’s Hudson Brock, founder of AlloHire, on “There You Are - How Allocentrism Awakens Your Calling And Community.” Watch it here. For more about TEDxChattanooga, visit tedxchattanooga.com - and tedxchattanooga on Instagram.

Cam Busch and Tony Smith. (Cam Busch / Facebook) Cam Busch is a pioneer in art therapy here in Chattanooga and beyond. In 1990, she was the first practicing art therapist to be hired in this city - and she has earned degrees on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Tony Smith was born in Chattanooga, lived in LA - and then moved back here, working for local government for 27 year...

From “Walls of Faith”: one of four films based in the Tennessee Valley that will be screened at this year’s Lookout Wild Film Festival in Chattanooga. (Lookout Wild Film Festival) “Walls of Faith.” “The Conservation Kid.” “Mecca in the Making.” And “A Couple of Screws Loose.” These are four films based here in the Tennessee Valley that will be screened at this year’s Lookout Wild Film Festival - d...

From “Generation 1.5” - which opens this year’s Chattanooga Jewish Documentary Film Series. (production 5) Four films from Israel, this country, the Netherlands and Lithuania are the lineup for this year’s Chattanooga Jewish Documentary Film Series. Starting this weekend for the next four weeks, the series will be screened in person on Sundays at 3 PM at the Jewish Cultural Center - as well as vir...

(The Enterprise Center) 2024 is only a few days old - and this year’s election cycle is already upon us here in the Chattanooga area. More from Mary Helen Montgomery of Chattamatters, the civic storytelling project at The Enterprise Center. _____ Visit Chattamatters at chattamatters.com and on social media.

A Unity Group march at the Martin Luther King, Jr. mural in downtown Chattanooga. (Unity Group of Chattanooga) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born nearly a century ago - on January 15th, 1929. This year, the Federal holiday on the third Monday in January that commemorates the civil rights leader’s life and legacy falls on what would have been his 95th birthday. This Saturday through the holiday,...

Celebrating MLK at The Unity Group of Chattanooga. This year’s Chattanooga Jewish Documentary Film Series. Scaling the outdoors at the Lookout Wild Film Festival. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(WTCI PBS) Nonprofits serve the needs of the Chattanooga area in many ways. “Chattanooga: Stronger Together” is a series produced by our public media partner WTCI PBS that highlights those nonprofits and their impact in our community. This weekend, the series’ third season premieres on WTCI - this Sunday at 10:30 AM. Barbara Marter is executive director of the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation - and th...

A digital billboard for the anti-Semitism awareness campaign on Brainerd Road in Chattanooga. (Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga) Last winter across Chattanooga, bright pink billboards with bold messages called out anti-Semitism. This winter, the billboards are back - now, in digital form - as part of the latest awareness campaign to fight anti-Semitism by the Jewish Federation of Greater C...

John Miller (Hamilton County EMS) John Miller joined Hamilton County EMS more than thirty years ago - only a few years after the County established its own service. Over time, John rose through the ranks - and in 2020, he was named the County’s EMS Director. Last fall, Hamilton County added its 17th ambulance to its fleet of EMS vehicles to help lower emergency response times. Also, under County M...

John Miller, the director of Hamilton County’s EMS. Bright pink billboards are back, calling out anti-Semitism. “Chattanooga: Stronger Together” from WTCI PBS. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(City of Chattanooga) Christmas is around the corner - and beyond that corner, New Year’s Eve and the arrival of 2024. On Sunday, December 31st, the City of Chattanooga and the local music nonprofit SoundCorps host the city’s official New Year’s Eve celebration - starting at 8 PM - at the intersection of Broad St. and Aquarium Way. Jonathan Susman is director of special events for the City of Chat...

A girl at this fall’s unveiling of Roads to Reading in Chattanooga. (Chattanooga 2.0) Here in Hamilton County, Guatemalan-Americans are the second-largest group of Latinos by nationality. For many families in that community, it’s been hard to find children’s books in the Mayan languages spoken at home. A recently-launched project called “Roads to Reading” is providing books and audio-visual aids t...

Brian Redman (Patrick Tremblay / Chattanooga Motorcar Festival) One of the offerings at this fall’s Chattanooga Motorcar Festival was founded by a racing legend. Targa Sixty-Six is an event for owners of vintage and modern high-performance and collector cars to drive their cars at speed - not necessarily racing them - under controlled conditions. Blair Godwin - a student in communication here at U...

Sue Carol Elvin (Sue Carol Elvin / Facebook) A former sea captain and his wife buy a house that is 120 years old. From the beginning, two fantasy characters have been there - collecting, storing and dispersing the memories made by the people who have lived in the house over the years. This is the tale of “The Memory Guardians,” a book for ten-to-twelve year olds by Sue Carol Elvin of Chattanooga....