Scenic Roots

A piece for “Art From The Inside.” (The Pop-up Project) On Thursday evening, Stove Works here in Chattanooga will host “Art from the Inside.” The one-time event, starting at 6 PM, will feature artwork created and inspired by inmates in this area - as well as performances shaped by inmates - all presented by a few local nonprofits. Frances McDonald is executive director of Mark Making. Chattanooga...

“Art from the Inside” by inmates on display at Stove Works. “Pygmalion” at Oak Street Playhouse Theatre in Chattanooga. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Tangerine Darter (Percina aurantiaca) (Tangerine Darter (Percina aurantiaca) / Doug Strickland / Tennessee Aquarium) A few months ago, a new gallery opened at the Tennessee Aquarium here in Chattanooga. “Ridges to Rivers” is a multi-sensory journey through the streams of Southern Appalachia, home to an abundance of aquatic species. Nardia Ingram, a student intern for Scenic Roots this semester her...

A few trinkets tucked away at Immersion Gallery. (Mya Mckinney) In downtown Chattanooga, Immersion Gallery offers an ever-changing world of art - local and regional, accented in mystery and oddity. Mya Mckinney, a student intern for Scenic Roots this semester here at UTC, checked it out. A glimpse of the greenhouse at Immersion Gallery. (Mya Mckinney)

From “The Legacy Project” in 2008. (Paula Lobo) Carolyn Dorfman is a choreographer and the child of Holocaust survivors. Her work - The Legacy Project - honors her Jewish heritage: “its trials and its triumphs, its treasured uniqueness and, most importantly, its universal connections.” From Friday, May 5th through Saturday, May 13th, Carolyn Dorfman Dance - her contemporary company based in New Yo...

The dance of “The Legacy Project” with Carolyn Dorfman. Student storytellers on Immersion Gallery & Ridges to Rivers. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Bessie Smith (Carl Van Vechten / Library of Congress) Bessie Smith, known as the “Empress of the Blues,” was born here in Chattanooga in the middle of this month in 1894. A concert earlier this year at Memorial Auditorium presented full orchestral arrangements of her music - commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, in collaboration with the CSO Youth Orchestras and community choral grou...

The HearMobile, the mobile testing unit of the Speech & Hearing Center. (Speech & Hearing Center) For seventy years, The Speech & Hearing Center has helped thousands of people in the Chattanooga area who have a speech or hearing impairment. Taylor Bostwick is the Center’s president and CEO.

James Lima’s firm was part of the interdisciplinary team that reimagined Peachtree Street as a “shared space” in downtown Atlanta. (Erik Voss / James Lima Planning & Development) Next week here in Chattanooga, urban planner James F. Lima will talk about “The Economics of Placemaking.” He is the founder of James Lima Planning + Development, a real estate and economic advisory firm in New York t...

(Scenic Roots - Mon 4/24/23) Lessons for localities from “The Economics of Placemaking.” A milestone for The Speech & Hearing Center in Chattanooga. Voices of an orchestral concert for the Empress of the Blues. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

On the Rossville Boulevard corridor. (The BLVD Project) What’s next for the Rossville Boulevard corridor? For the past few years, The BLVD Project has been working with residents and businesses to build a thriving community along the corridor, which stretches more than two miles south of downtown Chattanooga to the Tennessee-Georgia state line. Heather Herweyer is project director.

United Way’s Lesley Scearce and Samar Ali of Millions of Conversations, at the first “Learn United” conversation earlier this year. (United Way of Greater Chattanooga) United Way of Greater Chattanooga celebrated its centennial of service last year. This year, it launched “Learn United,” a community-wide conversation series - partnering with Millions of Conversations, a national nonprofit. The goa...

Lesley Scearce of United Way of Greater Chattanooga. For Rossville Boulevard, community crosses state lines. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(KB Ballentine) KB Ballentine is a poet who lives in Chattanooga. She teaches creative writing, theater arts and literature to high school and college students in our area. Her latest collection of poems - “Spirit of Wild” - was just released during this National Poetry Month. KB Ballentine (KB Ballentine)

“Spirit of Wild” - the latest book of poems by KB Ballentine. An arts advocacy coalition for students across Tennessee. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Leila Philip and the cover of “Beaverland.” (Twelve Books) Beavers are crafty, consequential animals. They have shaped the history of this country, they loom large in our legends - and they are engineering our ecosystem at this very moment, including in our own backyard. Leila Philip writes about them in her recent book, “Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America.” Next month, Leila will visit...

Part of the Hamilton County Growth Plan map. (Chattanooga-Hamilton County RPA) How should growth be managed in the unincorporated parts of Hamilton County? Nathan Janeway is the County’s new Director of Development Services - and he’s involved in the process for what is known as “Our Communities, Our Growth”: the first comprehensive growth plan for the future of those unincorporated areas, recentl...

For Hamilton County, setting a pace for future growth. A bold pack of ecological engineers in “Beaverland.” These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Two workers using machines in a factory to pour liquid into casts, likely at Wheland Foundry in Chattanooga. (Chattanooga Public Library and UTC Special Collections) After the Civil War, new factories - from textile mills to iron fabricators - were built here in Chattanooga. They powered the city’s reputation as an industrial center in the South, known as the “Dynamo of Dixie.” This semester on ou...

James Lima (James Lima Planning and Development) Placemaking for public spaces is meant to put people first, every step of the way. From planning and designing public spaces to building and maintaining them, placemaking keeps the focus on the people who use and benefit from those spaces. James F. Lima will talk about “The Economics of Placemaking” here in Chattanooga - at The Camp House on Thursda...

Urban planner James Lima on revitalizing public spaces. Digitizing pieces of Chattanooga’s labor and industrial past. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

From the Barry Moser collection. (UTC) Barry Moser is a printmaker best known for his wood engravings and his illustrations of literature. A Chattanooga native, he is a graduate of our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - when it was still known as the University of Chattanooga. UTC Special Collections holds the largest selection of his work - and starting Friday, several dozen of...

(Creative Arts Guild) As spring has sprung, so springs the art. Creative Arts Guild in Dalton hosts its annual Spring for the Arts on Saturday, April 29th. Sarah Murry is with the Guild.

Entrance to La Paz Chattanooga’s Community Center. (La Paz Chattanooga) La Paz Chattanooga - which serves the city’s Latino community - recognizes emerging excellence through its Latino Leadership Awards. The nonprofit is now accepting nominations for this year’s awards, set for September 21st at the Westin. Lily Sanchez is with La Paz.

This weekend, the music will be jumping at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in downtown Chattanooga. On Saturday and Sunday, the center hosts Bessie Smith’s Big 9 Music Fest, a celebration of and for the city’s African-American community around the time of the singer’s birth in this city. Elijah Cameron is with the Bessie - and Jake Cash is with Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union, a sponsor of...