Scenic Roots

(Artistic Civic Theatre) Artistic Civic Theatre in Dalton is about to conclude one season, while gearing up for the next - with plenty of summer activities in between. The season finale at ACT Dalton - “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” - premieres on Friday, August 4th. The next season opens on Friday, September 15th with “Charlotte’s Web.” Kate Losh is managing director of Artistic C...

Imagine technology that combines ultrasound, robotics and artificial intelligence to detect brain damage in stroke victims - and to detect holes in the heart that could be corrected with surgery before causing a stroke. Physicians at the CHI Memorial Stroke and Neuroscience Center here in Chattanooga - part of CommonSpirit Health - are now using the technology, known as robotic transcranial Dopple...

Dr. Thomas Devlin, neurologist at CHI Memorial in Chattanooga. A summer whirlwind for Artistic Civic Theatre in Dalton. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

From the poster for “Something Rotten” at CTC. (Chattanooga Theatre Centre) When chasing Shakespeare meets Broadway, what you get is the musical “Something Rotten.” The final production for the 2022 - 2023 season at Chattanooga Theatre Centre premieres on Friday, starting at 8 PM. Beth Gumnick is the director. Josh Rubin plays Nostradamus. Scott Dunlap plays Brother Jeremiah - and he’s also the se...

The Arts Building in downtown Chattanooga. (ArtsBuild) To create art - whatever the discipline - is a gift. How to build a career and a business model on that creativity relies on another gift: entrepreneurship. ArtsBuild - the nonprofit that supports artists here in the Chattanooga area - is now accepting applications for Periscope Chattanooga: Artist Entrepreneur Training, a business development...

Part of the downtown Chattanooga Riverfront. (River City Company) In the next chapter for Chattanooga’s downtown Riverfront, what should parks look like - and how should the riverfront parks align with the City of Chattanooga’s goal of building a “city in a park”? A community open house this week offers the chance for the public to learn about the possibilities and provide feedback. The open house...

Evolving the parks on Chattanooga’s downtown Riverfront. Connecting artists & entrepreneurs with Periscope Chattanooga. The musical “Something Rotten” at Chattanooga Theatre Centre. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(SoundCorps) Each month, SoundCorps - the music nonprofit here in Chattanooga - showcases five locally-produced songs in “SoundBites,” which supports our own musicians. Stratton Tingle - executive director of SoundCorps - shares the latest SoundBites with us.

(Girl Stance) Four years ago, Roe Anderson founded Girl Stance here in the Chattanooga area. The nonprofit - aiming to improve the wellbeing of young Black girls - began by offering yoga retreats and a mindfulness program. Since then, Girl Stance has helped 10,000 girls in this area. Today, the nonprofit has evolved and moved online, just launching a new initiative known as The P.E.A.R. Academy.

(Theatrico) Near the end of this month, a new local theatre company will take the stage - outdoors - in Chattanooga’s West Village. Theatrico will present its debut production, “The Fantasticks” - the world’s longest-running musical - in front of the Westin Chattanooga on Pine Street from Thursday, July 27th through Saturday, July 29th. Mary Catherine Schimpf is creative director of Theatrico - an...

Theatrico brings “The Fantasticks” to Chattanooga’s West Village. The P.E.A.R. Academy, an online charm school from Girl Stance. SoundBites from SoundCorps: Field of View, Magiik, The Howlers. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Cast members of “Destiny in Dayton.” (Rhea Heritage Preservation Foundation) This year’s Scopes Festival is Friday and Saturday in Dayton. The annual gathering commemorates the July 1925 trial in Dayton of John Scopes, a high school teacher accused of violating a Tennessee law that barred the teaching of evolution in public schools. The festival features a play where the actual trial took place at...

Meet a few cast members of “Seussical.” (Signal Mountain Playhouse) In a musical mood for the world of Dr. Seuss? You’ll find it on Signal Mountain this month, as our own Richard Winham tells us.

Audubon Acres. (Chattanooga Audubon Society) What do these four places have in common: Audubon Acres, Maclellan Island, Audubon Mountain and Mackey Branch Wetland? The Chattanooga Audubon Society protects all four of those nature and wildlife sanctuaries in this area. On Friday, September 22nd, the Society will host its annual Torchlight Gala at the Hunter Museum of American Art, starting at 7 PM....

Riverfront Nights at Ross’ Landing in downtown Chattanooga. (Riverfront Nights) Here comes Riverfront Nights in downtown Chattanooga. This Saturday, the free summer concert series of local and area talent returns to Ross’ Landing on Riverfront Parkway, from 6 PM to 10 PM. Mickey McCamish is executive director of Friends of the Festival.

Riverfront Nights returns to Ross’ Landing in Chattanooga. Sing the songs of “Seussical” at Signal Mountain Playhouse. “Destiny in Dayton” at this year’s Scopes Festival in Dayton. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp in April 2023. (Hamilton County Mayor's Office) On Tuesday afternoon, live here on WUTC, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp stopped by our studio for a conversation.

(Immersion Gallery) Think of a collage. Next, how about a terrarium? Just make room … for the tiny movie theater. You’ll find all of the above, and then some, at Immersion Gallery in downtown Chattanooga - on Wednesday from 6 PM to 10 PM. Brought to life by artist Kevin Bate, the Gallery at 231 Broad St. is an ever-changing world of art - local and regional, accented in mystery and oddity. Kevin s...

Vanessa Parras (La Paz Chattanooga) Vanessa Parras was born in Metro Atlanta - Gwinnett County, Georgia. Of Salvadoran heritage, she is an alumna of our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - earning her law degree at UT Knoxville. Vanessa’s experience includes the Georgia Legal Services Program and the University of Tennessee Legal Clinic - and today, she is Legal Access Coordinator...

Legal access for youth immigration cases at La Paz Chattanooga. A surreal showcase for this summer at Immersion Gallery. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Todd Shipley (Tennessee Department of Education) Todd Shipley is an arts educator whose canvas is the State of Tennessee. He has served as a middle and high school band director for Metro Nashville Schools and Rutherford County Schools - and five years ago, he became the Director of Fine Arts at the Tennessee Department of Education. He is the content lead at the state level for more than 4,500 ar...

One of the paintings in “Together: A Portrait of Americans.” (David Michael Salerno / Townsend Atelier) The words “E pluribus unum” - Latin for “Out of many, one” - appear on the Great Seal of the United States and most of our currency. They refer to this nation’s independence, just celebrated - and they are the animating spirit of an exhibition that opens Friday at Townsend Atelier here in Chatta...

Tony Sammons (Matt Hamilton / Chattanooga Times Free Press) Tony Sammons was born here in Chattanooga and grew up on the Westside. He left Chattanooga, then he came back - and for the past 17 years, he has worked for the City of Chattanooga. Until recently, he served as administrator of the Department of Community Development. Now, he’s settling into his new role as Chief Equity Officer, a positio...

Tony Sammons, the City of Chattanooga’s Chief Equity Officer. “Together: A Portrait of Americans” at Townsend Atelier. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(The BLVD Project) CultureFest is coming to the Rossville Boulevard Open Air Market Series. The fest is Friday, July 7th - from 5 PM to 9 PM - at 207 Chickamauga Avenue in Rossville, GA. Heather Herweyer is director of The BLVD Project, which is hosting the series with the Rossville Downtown Development Authority. Kamila Hall is co-founder of Culture Chatt, one of the sponsors of CultureFest. (Cul...