Blog
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PARK(ing) DAY - unleash your street’s creative potential! Friday, August 29, 2008
Park(ing) Day is an annual celebration of transforming parking spaces into temporary public parks. And it’s coming to your town, September 19th.
Around the nation, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel, and more pollution. Did you know that more than 70% of most cities’ outdoor space is dedicated to private vehicles, while only a fraction of that land is allocated to open space for people?
Park(ing) Day began in a single metered parking spot in San Francisco and has spread around the world. People who want more open space, less traffic, and safer streets have joined together to rethink the way streets are used. Shouldn’t public spaces and places be for people?
Want to get involved? Come to a Park(ing) Day brainstorming meeting at CreateHere. Talk, imagine, and plan your own public park!
Que: Park(ing) Day Meeting
Cuando: 5:30 PM, Thursday, September 4, 2008
Donde: CreateHere, 55 E Main Street, Suite 105Check out these websites for pictures, videos, How To guides, and background info: parkingday.org and tpl.org/parkingday.
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Celebrate Labor Day under the Shade Tree at Rock City Thursday, August 28, 2008
Need Labor Day plans? Check out the lineup for Rock City’s Labor Day Old Time Music Festival!
Take in live music under the Shade Tree at Lovers Leap from 12 noon to 8 PM, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Head up Lookout Mountain to hear local favorites, such as Matt Evans and Friends, Rick Davis, Butch Ross and Amanda Cagle, and the New Binkley Brothers.
Check out the Labor Day lineup here!
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The Necessary Tools Friday, August 15, 2008
The Necessary Tools
Healthcare is an essential, though difficult, addition to any artist’s toolbox
For artists and be-my-own-boss-types alike, the stress of finding insurance is often reason enough to give-up on the whole enterprise. The epic quest for affordable coverage requires bravery, discipline and an appreciation for music of the “You’ve Been Put on Hold Indefinitely” genre. Of course, the high cost of even the most basic medical treatments testifies to the importance of reliable healthcare, but with the investment of time—and of course money—required, it can be difficult for the self-employed to justify the hassle. A little know-how can get you started in the right direction.First and foremost, there’s the government. Many programs, both federal and state, exist to pay for your healthcare costs, though you may find that qualifying for Uncle Sammy’s dollars requires an extenuating circumstance. Cover Tennessee provides healthcare for children and seriously ill individuals who have been denied healthcare elsewhere. Those over 65 can benefit from Medicare, and low-income families have Medicaid at their disposal. Most notably, CoverTN, one of four divisions in the Cover Tennessee network, finds ways to insure the employees of small businesses across the state.
As an individual seeking healthcare independently, it’s helpful to think outside the box. Let’s imagine you’ve been employed by A Company Fortunate Enough to Find a Genius Like You, Incorporated, which has generously provided you with a benefits package that includes healthcare. Because this company is staffed with 800 or so other geniuses, you all get cheaper insurance rates. You benefit, collectively, from your individual employment.
Enter the private group provider, a type of organization that simulates a large company for the purposes of providing insurance to its members. Group providers connect artists with bunches of uninsured brethren, i.e. your fellow geniuses. The idea is that there is strength (and discount) to be had when these bundles of artists approach insurance companies as a collective, rather than as individual policy-buyers. Enrolling in a private group provider gives the shopper access to rates that those working for larger companies enjoy. Enjoyment whilst shopping for insurance. It’s genius.
There are a few names in the private group provider industry worth knowing. With Freelancers Union, members have access to health insurance as well as dental, disability and term life policies for the particularly ambitious. Fractured Atlas, a provider some 50,000-members strong, can also connect artists in Tennessee with an appropriate healthcare plan through Aetna. And there’s Assurant Health, which helps with financing your healthcare and works with several nation-wide insurance companies providing both short- and long-term policies.
Goodness, it sounds so easy, but the buyer beware: insurance companies recommended by group providers are not legally bound to accept group bids. While Freelancers Union and Fractured Atlas have enormous clout because of their sheer size, it’s still not a sure thing. Ever.
Should you so choose to forgo insurance, there are many prescription assistance programs operated by non-profits and pharmaceutical companies. The government is also willing to offset prescription drug costs from time to time.
And then there’s the jive. Mercifully, many providers and advocacy groups offer resources for learning the romantic language of health insurance—and there are volumes dedicated to its pursuit. This proves incredibly helpful since different companies provide different types of coverage: you can do some powerful comparison-shopping when you understand the jargon. Hit me with an HAS for my PPO, you’ll tell them, you genius.
Keep in mind, even the most well-informed smooth talker can come up against major pratfalls. Age, medical history and income can all play a decisive role in whether or not you qualify for healthcare and how much it will cost should you score a policy. Additionally, it gets tricky when you want to insure yourself as well as a partner, family member, or group of employees. But you’re not alone in your search for affordable healthcare, little genius. That much, if only that much, is certain.
By Veronique Bergeron
Posted by in Collective Rethink
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Call to Artists Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Maryville Civic Arts Center
Project Description
A new, 47-million dollar cultural center is currently being constructed on the campus of Maryville College, located in Maryville, Tennessee. The new Civic Arts Center will be a destination for the arts for Eastern Tennessee and the region, and will include a 1200 seat theater and 250-seat recital hall, a 200-seat flexible theater, three exhibition spaces, workshops, classrooms and offices. The majestic entry lobby, as well as the Center’s exterior arts plaza, will be the focal point for a myriad of corporate, community and college events.
Information about the Civic Arts Center can be found at the website http://www.civicartscenter.org, and includes updates on the progress of construction as well as information about the site plan, donors and Maryville College.
There will be a significant fine arts component to the new cultural center. This part of the project is open to established, professional artists living in the United States and abroad. The aim is to acquire works of the highest quality, and will include both regional artists and those artists living and working internationally. The primary criteria will be the level of expertise and quality of past work exhibited by each artist, as well as suitability of that work for the site.
Art Locations
Fine artwork is being sought for a variety of areas within the building and in exterior locations. These works may include sculpture, painting, photography and video art, installation/environmental art, textile design, glass, ceramic art, and wood. Appropriate artworks may include two dimensional paintings for interior wall surfaces, exterior free standing sculpture or relief sculpture; pedestal-sized sculpture; and possibly the design of the theater curtain and prominent entrance doors.
Criteria
All artists wishing to be considered must be proficient in their stated media, with a strong exhibition history and demonstrated expertise in their field. Submissions must take the form of no more than five (5) digital images of the artist’s most recent work, in jpeg format only, and include:
• The title, size, media and an explanation of each work depicted, including location.
• A CV or resume detailing exhibitions and other accomplishments.
• Price range of past works, including commissions, if applicable.
• Team members, if appropriate, if the artist typically employs structural engineers, fabricators or other subcontractors;
• Contractual relationships with galleries or private art dealers;
• Artist’s full contact information, including day and evening phone numbers, address and email.
All submissions will be accepted via CD-Rom or flash drives only. Each individual CD Rom or flash drive must be clearly labeled with the artist’s name. CD Rom disks and flash drives will not be returned. These should be forwarded to the Civic Arts Center’s architect, McCarty Holsaple McCarty. Make sure the envelope is marked Fine Arts Program and forward to:
Jeff Johnson
McCarty Holsaple McCarty, Inc.
550 W. Main Street, Suite 300
Knoxville, TN 37902
Deadlines
Submission deadline is September 30, 2008. Submissions will be reviewed in October, with a short list presented to the Fine Arts Committee of the Maryville College Civic Arts Center by the end of the month. Final decisions on artists to be considered for commissions or acquisitions of non-commissioned works will be made by the Fine Arts Committee. Artists will be notified via email. It is the policy of Maryville College and the Civic Arts Center not to discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, color, national origin or disability in its hiring and employment practices. No person shall be excluded from participation in or be discriminated against in treatment or employment on the grounds of handicap and/or disability, age, race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.Posted by in Collective Rethink
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Listen up: Chattanooga Featured on “Smart City”! Friday, August 08, 2008
CreateHere Creative Strategists Helen Johnson and Josh McManus can be heard this week online and as a podcast on Smart City, the weekly, hour-long public radio talk show that takes an in-depth look at urban life, including the people, places, ideas and trends shaping cities.
Johnson and McManus were taped in a remote interview conducted at WUTC. Said Johnson, ” Host Carol Coletta led the discussion, probing the work of CreateHere to ask about specific programs, as well as asking for our definition of contemporary mentorship and ‘urbanite.’ We pointed out that Chattanooga has been hard at work for the last 30 years, building, or rather, rebuilding a city that had lost sight of its assets. Now the emphasis has shifted to people-building, within the structures that exist. Cities across the country are competing for talent. The type of grassroots programs that CreateHere can offer not only act as a calling card for talented individuals, but provide resources to sustain and build stronger and more equipped entrepreneurs, citizens and emerging leaders.”
The two CreateHere team members met Colleta at the recent CEOs for Cities conference in New Orleans. They were familiar with Smart City and delighted to accept the invitation to be heard on it.
“This has been a program from which we have learned a great deal over the past year,” said Johnson. “Smart City offers the opportunity to engage in multiple topics revolving around the development of successful cities. To be able to share our experiences with others provides opportunity to have the attention of Smart City’s listeners pointed in Chattanooga’s direction.”
-by Janis Hashe
Listen up! The interview is posted on the web and on podcast!
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