Blog
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Celebrating MakeWork: Past, Present, and Future Friday, April 30, 2010
Over the last two years, CreateHere has been privileged to develop and provide the MakeWork grant to artists and artisans in Chattanooga. The 2010 MakeWork cycle is currently offering up to $125,000 for artists who need assistance in three different categories: projects, studio assistance, and career development.
One of the most exciting aspects of MakeWork is the variety of talents that are fostered by the process. Over the last two years, we’ve awarded grants to film makers, screen-printers, DJs, and chefs. The individuals who have benefited from the MakeWork grant process represent a broad swath of creativity and trade—a true testament to the strength of the creative community in our fair city.
This year marks the third anniversary of the grant process. And as the 2010 grant process begins, the 2009 cycle is coming to a close. While we eagerly await the diverse applicants that we’ll be hearing from in the next two weeks, we would like to take a moment to highlight some of these past recipients’ work.
Phillip Allen was awared a MakeWork grant in 2009 to expand his capabilities as a professional DJ. As a DJ who creates original compositions of sampled beats and sounds, he was able to purchase equipment to advance his craft, and host several events that promoted local electronic music.
Jonathan McNair applied for a MakeWork grant in 2009 to put on a concert of original compositions. He was able to hire performers to perform his original song cycle, “An Earthen Man” for string quartet and Baritone voice, along with other compositions.
Thomas Spake is a glass blower who was awarded a MakeWork grant in 2009 to help develop his studio. With his grant money he was able to purchase new production equipment and improve his studio space.
It’s clear that creative individuals have an impact on Chattanooga. Local artists in our community are a force for growth in the local economy. CreateHere’s MakeWork grants reinforce the value of this unique sector of the workforce and our recipients help shape Chattanooga as an emerging creative economy. The first deadline for 2010 applications is May 7th, and the final deadline is May 14th. Get your application in soon, and tell your friends.
If you have any questions, please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Three UTC Projects Inspired by Valencia 826 Thursday, April 29, 2010
This semester, senior designers at UTC were presented with a very unique and very interesting project. To create a storefront in keeping with those of 826 National, a highly unconventional network of youth tutoring and writing centers.
Essentially Odd tells the story of how 826 National began and what follows is an abbreviated excerpt:
What is now 826 National began back in the fall of 2001, when Dave Eggers and some friends were looking to rent a space on Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District. They planned to open an after-school tutoring center for the kids who lived in the neighborhood; it was a simple and only semi-formed notion. The plan was that the front of the building would be used for tutoring and workshops, and the back would house the offices of McSweeney’s, their small publishing house.
The landlord was open to the idea of a tutoring center, but the address was zoned for retail. They had no choice, the landlord said: at the front of the building, they had to sell something. So they just had to come up with a concept. In remodeling the space. the group found beautiful wooden beams, old and whitewashed, along with almost perfect wood floors. Very soon, the building had taken on the look of the hull of an old ship. And someone said. “You know what you should sell? Pirate supplies.”
Soon the store had its own distinct aesthetic and even a certain mythology. The work was fun. Creating the store was fun for the volunteers, and the fun rubbed off on the students who came to 826 Valencia for tutoring help. Soon a good majority of the volunteers and students had come through the storefront. They would walk in off the street, curious to see the bizarre shop, and would learn about the programs and opportunities happening just behind the store.
So when groups started sister 826 centers in other cities, they used the same model – a storefront facing the street and welcoming the community at large, and in the back, plenty of room for desks, chairs, field trips, workshops, and one-an-one learning. And the storefronts were as varied as the cities themselves. In New York they opened the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., LA’s storefront is the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, Chicago’s Boring Store sells spy gear, Seattle boasts the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co., Michigan is fronted by The Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair Store, and Boston has the The Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute.
Each 826 center worked with local artists and designers to craft a distinct fantasy retail environment. Local creative types would leap in to conjure a wonderful world that would delight customers and intrigue kids, and the products they created, when sold, would help pay the rent.
This semester, under the direction of Professor Matt Greenwell, the senior graphic design majors at UTC were asked to approach this idea as a design problem; in effect, to develop a thematic concept for an 826 National Store, to brand it with a logo, signage, packaging, and copy—and to stock it with “products” in the spirit of both the theme of the store and of 826 National.
As a class, they quickly agreed to try doing it in a way that would live in the world, if even for a little while. So when they heard about a Leadership Chattanooga initiative to promote the potential of MLK Blvd. and the small (but largely vacant) retail area near the UTC campus, the two groups came together with a quiet hope that it will occur to someone that this is a good enough idea to pursue right here in Chattanooga.
The UTC class of designers split up into three groups to create three separate storefront ideas: Instacitiocity, peddler of big city smells and sights; The Everlasting Shop, where you can buy forever in a spray bottle; and Mad Lab, a monster pet shop. All three shop ideas will have a public window display all day Friday at 515 E MLK Blvd (across the street from Champy’s). Stop by, do some window shopping, and consider the possibilities.
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Next Thursday: Take the Lead
On Thursday, May 6, the Chattanooga Leadership Think Tank Roundtable presents “Take the Lead: Creating a Livable Chattanooga Region for All Ages,” a conference taking place from 8 - 11:30 a.m. in the UTC University Center Chattanooga Rooms.
“Take the Lead” participants will consult the Building Partnerships: Creating a Livable Chattanooga for All Ages report from last summer’s summit in an effort to inform the next key level of community dialogue, visioning, and building for the future.
Co-founded in 2007 by Missy Crutchfield of the Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture and Diane Parks of Leadership Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Leadership Think Tank regularly gathers a roundtable of Chattanooga’s leadership program directors to network, share best practices, and combine efforts to mutually support each other in growing the city’s leadership development programs.
For the 2009-2010 year, the Chattanooga Leadership Think Tank Roundtable has focused on addressing the needs of all generations living in Chattanooga now and in the future. The “Take the Lead” Conference is the culmination of this year’s Think Tank focus.
The Chattanooga Leadership Think Tank Roundtable isn’t alone in this endeavor. Convened by Mayor Ron Littlefield, other “Take the Lead” partners include: Choose Chattanooga, Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities, Chattanooga Health and Performance Institute, Leadership Chattanooga, Partners for a Livable Chattanooga, The Learning and Leadership Laboratory (L3) and UTC.
“Great cities have discovered that economic development and livability go hand in hand,” says Mayor Ron Littlefield. “Chattanooga is taking the lead for successfully creating partnerships that benefit citizens of all ages.”
“Take the Lead” is free a conference, but space is limited. Please email RSVPs by tomorrow, April 30, to fulgham_k [at] Chattanooga [dot] gov.
For more information about the Chattanooga Leadership Think Tank Roundtable or the City of Chattanooga’s Department of Education, Arts & Culture, contact Melissa Turner at 423/425.7826 or turner_m [at] mail.chattanooga [dot] gov.
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Southside Creative presents “Strange New World” May 6 Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Southside Creative Group presents “Strange New World,” a social media conference for beginners and intermediates featuring Jose Castillo on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at their offices at The Freight Depot.
Castillo provides insight into the convergence of technology, marketing and ideas to companies all over the country, though he is based in Johnson City, Tennessee. Jose says, “Most companies now realize that they need to have a Facebook page and maybe a twitter account but beyond that, how are they supposed to interact and grow in this strange new world? The power of conversations with your current and potential customers is nothing new, but in this new media world you need to be able to understand the tools, listen intently, and be prepared to respond. The faster you adapt, the better equipped you will be to respond when something strange comes along. And at the rate technology is morphing, that will be tomorrow.”
The conference will consist of two sessions, 101 for Beginners, which will identify the most strategic ways each business should be using social media and actually get businesses set up, and 201 for Intermediates, which will provide strategies for Public Relations in the digital age using social media tactics. 201 participants are asked to bring a press release about their business for use in this exercise. Laptops are also welcome, as Southside will provide wireless internet all day.
Registration for the event is available online at http://www.southsidecreative.com. There you can also follow a flow chart to determine which session will be most helpful to you.
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Pancake Breakfast to Benefit 3 Firehall Families Monday, April 19, 2010
On Saturday April 24, Station One on Main Street will hold a pancake breakfast to benefit three families of firefighters recently wracked by tragedy. The event costs $5 per plate and will last from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. with all proceeds directly benefiting the three families. Jonathan, a firefighter from Station One, brings us this update.
Stereotypes exist for a reason: one-time occurrences become sometime happenings that soon become habits and ultimately lore. The firefighting profession is no exception to the rule. We are held to a higher moral and physical standard because of what we are charged to do on a daily basis and stereotypes have been formed out of these characteristics.
We are, stereotypically, each other’s brothers and sisters at the station—a second family. We are bound by necessity, drawn together out of shared experience, and unified by stress and hardship. As in any family, disagreement rises and is eventually resolved. When members are individually challenged, the loyalty of the group is drawn out.
Over the course of the past couple of months, the brotherhood has been tested and our loyalty to each other has become more visible than ever. Three families within our sworn department have been directly affected by terrible medical emergencies. One firefighter and two children of firefighters have been afflicted by dire medical diagnoses. Because of this, we pool our resources, we rise against together, and we do our best as brothers and sisters to show our resolve alongside our shared sympathies.
Still, within these strengths lies an undercurrent that seeks to topple our greatest efforts. A consequence of this job is a detachment from the reality of injury, hardship, and death. We are always looked to as pillars of strength and capability, never allowed to falter or cave under the pressure of what we see and do. But when those mechanisms are put to the ultimate test, when they are threatened in a way that we can no longer control, we must face our own vulnerabilities.
We can only hope that in these moments, we will be comforted, supported, held across the threshold of our own shortcomings, and resolve to fight like hell alongside our brothers, our sisters, and our children. These are matters specific to our profession, things that no one outside the job would ever fully understand—but in the end, we are no different than anyone else. We are fathers, we are injured, we are human.
We would welcome anyone to the breakfast next Saturday, but also welcome anyone to come by and get a look at the station, take pictures with your kids on the trucks, or simply hang out with us.
And of course, thank you for listening.
