Scenic Roots

Voting materials organized for the 2018 election at the Hamilton County Election Commission in Chattanooga. (Erin O. Smith / Chattanooga Times Free Press) What does it take to restore the voting rights of a person who has served a sentence for a felony conviction here in Tennessee? Ellen Gerst is a reporter for The Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Ellen Gerst, reporter for The Chattanooga Times Free Press. Reed Caldwell on this year’s Youth Talent Show at Songbirds. Sarah Moore on the upcoming 4 Bridges Arts Festival. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

From “Howard Finster Before He Painted.” (Paradise Garden Foundation) Before Howard Finster became a folk artist who caught the world’s attention with a mission to “paint sacred art,” he was a woodworker. An exhibition now at Paradise Garden Foundation in Summerville, Georgia - titled “Howard Finster Before He Painted” - displays his wood creations from the 1950’s to the 1970’s - including wooden-...

Rendering of part of The Healing Gardens. Gardens can heal and calm - mind, body and soul. Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation plans to build a series of therapeutic gardens on its campus in downtown Chattanooga. The design for what will be known as The Healing Gardens at Siskin Hospital features herbs, plants and flowers - as well as art installations, sculptures and gathering spaces - no...

Strides of March - nearly 30 years old - supports the work of Cempa Community Care here in Chattanooga. This year’s fundraiser and awareness walk - marking the strides against HIV while remembering those who were lost - is on Saturday from Noon to 2 PM at Renaissance Park. Miles Huff is Cempa’s director of community engagement.

Valoria Armstrong (Unum) It’s one of the top ten employers here in Chattanooga, home to its corporate headquarters. Unum - an insurance giant and a Fortune 500 company - marks its 175th anniversary this year. One of its newest employees: Valoria Armstrong, who joined Unum as its chief global inclusion and diversity officer earlier this year. Visit Unum here: https://careers.unum.com/global/en/ htt...

Valoria Armstrong on inclusion and diversity at Unum. Cempa Community Care’s Miles Huff on Strides of March. By design: The Healing Gardens at Siskin Hospital. “Howard Finster Before He Painted” At Paradise Garden. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Bricks of Honor in the plaza of the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center. (Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center.) Saturday is National Medal of Honor Day. That morning, at 11 AM, the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center here in downtown Chattanooga will hold its quarterly Bricks of Valor ceremony - dedicating the latest commemora...

Gabrielle Bates (Poetry Society of America) Gabrielle Bates is a writer and visual artist originally from Birmingham. Her first book - a collection of poems - is “Judas Goat.” On Saturday, here in Chattanooga, she appears at two events hosted by the Meacham Writers’ Workshop, a biannual series of events for writers supported in part by our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Sybil...

“Portrait of James Baldwin” by Beauford Delaney. (Hunter Museum / Knoxville Museum of Art) Rhyme N Chatt is a place for poetry from the community for the community here in Chattanooga. Since 1999, the group hosts open mic sessions free for the public to participate and enjoy. Marsha Mills is Rhyme N Chatt’s president - and on Thursday, starting at 6 PM, she will be one of the poets at the Hunter M...

Poetry at the Hunter explores two iconic Black creatives. A community focus for the Meacham Writers’ Workshop. Brick by brick to commemorate the Medal of Honor. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

A meal at The Hope House on UTC’s campus. (Hope House) On the edge of our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - you’ll find The Hope House. Our own Richard Winham tells us more.

“Golden Sun & Pines on Hillside” by Jill Steenhuis. (Jill Steenhuis) Jill Steenhuis is a native of our Southeast who made her home in the southeast of France. She is an artist who paints landscapes in the region where she has lived for more than four decades: Provence, along the Mediterranean and on France’s border with Italy. Next week, artwork by Jill and her son Sergio will be on display at...

Los Trompos in Detroit. (River City Company, Esrawe + Cadena, Creos, Downtown Detroit Partnership) Think of a spinning top. Make it larger-than-life. Wrap it in colorful fabric with traditional Mexican designs. Climb into the top for a ride - or make it spin from the outside. Eight of these tops, in various shapes and colors - known as Los Trompos - are the heart of this year’s Rock the Riverfront...

The Chattanooga Convention Center. (Dave Flessner / Chattanooga Times Free Press) The Chattanooga Convention Center opened its doors on Carter Street in 1985, nearly forty years ago - far exceeding its expectations. Now, the city’s tourism industry - which earned record revenues last year - is looking into whether it’s time for a new and larger convention center. Dave Flessner is business editor f...

TFP’s Dave Flessner on the Chattanooga Convention Center. Ready to Rock the Riverfront with spinning Los Trompos. Art in Provence for a Chattanooga cause; Hope House at UTC. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly (City of Chattanooga) On Wednesday afternoon, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly joined us live here on WUTC for our monthly conversation.

Woodson Carpenter (Cam Flaisch / CFGC) Woodson Carpenter speaks with Maeghan Jones, Candy Johnson, Travis Hutchinson and Travis Lytle in the latest episode of “One for All” - a storytelling partnership between the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga and “Scenic Roots.” Maeghan Jones (CFGC) Travis Lytle, Woodson Carpenter and Candy Johnson. (CFGC) Entrance to the Community Foundation of Gre...

ETC’s cast of “The Borrowers” - from a performance for Hamilton County students. (ArtsBuild) Underneath the floorboards, a tiny family is living on dollhouse furniture - until their home is discovered, and the big adventure begins. That’s the story of “The Borrowers” - the latest production by Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga - opening Friday at the Mountain Arts Community Center on Signal Mountain...

From “Bambi: A Life in the Woods” at CTC. (Chattanooga Theatre Centre) A hundred years ago, a coming-of-age novel written by an Austrian was first published in Berlin: “Bambi: A Life in the Woods.” That same year - 1923 - the Walt Disney Company was founded in Los Angeles. Nearly twenty years after that - in 1942 - Disney would release its animated adaptation of “Bambi,” known worldwide ever since...

Untitled (Abstract Circles), c. 1956 - pastel and mixed media on paper, by Beauford Delaney. (Knoxville Museum of Art) Beauford Delaney was born in Knoxville, soon after the turn of the last century. A Black modernist painter, he is remembered for his works during the Harlem Renaissance in New York City and after his move to Paris. Delaney was a friend - and “spiritual father” - of writer James Ba...

Beauford Delaney’s art at Chattanooga’s Hunter Museum. “Bambi: A Life in the Woods” at Chattanooga Theatre Centre. From Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga: “The Borrowers” 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.

Tova Friedman, a Holocaust survivor, in “Reckonings” - part of this year’s Chattanooga Jewish Documentary Film Series. (reckoningsfilm.org) This year’s Chattanooga Jewish Documentary Film Series premieres this weekend. Five award-winning, Jewish-themed documentaries will be screened - in person and virtually - for five consecutive weeks. In person screenings will be held at the Jewish Cultural Cen...

The “Cultural Cross Ties” video featuring painter Gali Barnea of Giv'atayim, Israel and painter Kristina Sanchez-Mills of Chattanooga. (Barking Legs Theater) Cultural Cross Ties is an art project created by Ann Law of Barking Legs Theater here in Chattanooga. The experimental partnership links artists in this city with artists in Chattanooga’s Sister Cities. The first collaboration in the series f...