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Riverbend’s Mystery Rock Review Thursday, May 27, 2010

Chattanooga’s Riverbend Festival has featured some notable guests over the years and 2010 is no exception. As usual, there’s a mystery performance this year, the details of which are being kept strictly under wraps until showtime on Sunday, June 13. It’s being billed as the single largest, live “arts experiment” in Chattanooga history and rumors have already started.

What we do know is this: The Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra will be playing the Coca-Cola stage that night along with The Waybacks, a San Francisco based “golden era” cover band best known for performing some of rock’s greatest albums from start to finish. They’ll be joined by guest vocalists John Cowan, a Chattanooga favorite and one of the purest voices in Americana music, and Joan Osborne of The Grateful Dead, whose hit single “(What If God Was) One of Us” made its way up the charts in 1995.

The beloved, well-known album—it could be anything from Led Zepellin to Bob Dylan—is the secret centerpiece of Mystery Rock Review, a concert that promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Maestro Bob Bernhardt of the CSO has already stated, “It’s shaping up to be one of the highlights of my entire musical career.”

Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga is offering a special discount on 200 pairs of VIP “STAR” seats and 200 single night wristbands for music lovers who want to attend the Mystery Rock Review only. The Allied Arts deal will save concertgoers $12 from the normal price of a Riverbend General Admission Pin.

The folks at Allied Arts say it best: “If you skip out on the Mystery Rock Review, be prepared Monday morning to hear rave reviews of one of the finest moments in Chattanooga’s musical history.”

Take advantage of this great deal by picking up tickets at Allied Arts (406 Frazier Avenue) while they last. For more information, call Allied Arts at 423-756-2787 or the Friends of the Festival office at 423-756-2211.

Posted by Phillip in Arts in Culture
This Friday: Last Fridays on Main Wednesday, May 26, 2010

If you take a stroll down Main Street, you’ll be sure to notice the many studios, galleries, and creative enterprises nestled in Southside neighborhoods and on trafficked thoroughfares. Main Street has emerged as the epicenter for working artists in Chattanooga, many of whom moved to the urban district as part of the ArtsMove artist relocation program, a collaborative effort of Choose Chattanooga and CreateHere.

To showcase Main Street’s exciting happenings, many of these spaces will be open to the larger public every last Friday of the month (until November) from 5 – 8 pm as part of Last Fridays on Main.

Inspired by the eclecticism and creativity of the annual Main x 24 Southside event every December, Last Fridays on Main attempts to harness that energy for the rest of the year by showcasing one of our district’s most precious assets: our artists.

The Southside will be bustling this Friday evening with Last Fridays on Main and we hope to see you there. We’ll be featuring some live music here at 55 E. Main, but here’s a list of other open venues coupled with the exciting creative opportunities they’ll be offering.

CIAO BELLA (1415 Market St.)
Chattanooga’s fashionable boutique is conveniently located in the Southside District across from the famous Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Fine clothing and complementary accessories.

SET IN STONE (306 W Main St., Suite 114)
Featuring concrete countertops and functional art. Brothers Jeremiah and Nathan Smith are two local craftsmen using local materials to craft custom hand-made products for your home. (See their Fence Art, “Spare Parts,” at 301 E. Main St.).

STUDIO 2/ GALLERY 2 (27 W. Main St.)
Owner/Artist Vicki White features regional fine art and quality framing.

RED HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY (55 E. Main St., Suite 104)
Owned and operated by award-winning wedding photojournalist Ricki Chester, this studio specializes in the contemporary, intimate, and artistic.

AREA 61 (61 E. Main St.)
A space for craftspersons and artists to showcase and sell their work between art shows, openings, and festivals. Patrons can also work with any of the artists and crafts persons to create their own one-of-a-kind piece.

OUTDOOR CLIMBING WALL (Parking lot of the Mitchell Ave YMCA)
Tennessee Bouldering Authority (TBA) is an indoor climbing gym located in St. Elmo. For this Last Friday event, they’re setting up a unique portable climbing wall, providing fun challenges for kids of all ages.

MIKI BONI STUDIOS (1611 Mitchell Ave.)

Trained as a classical portraitist, Miki Boni chose a more spirited approach to her facescapes. Contrary to the humorless and the mundane, her world is charged with mischievous wit and occasional absurdity. Featuring: Chattanooga Facescapes.

IGNIS GLASS AND CHRISTOPHER MOSEY STUDIO (1800 Rossville Avenue, Suite 4)
Ignis artists will be blowing glass and raffling the evening’s creations. Located side-by-side in the Off-Main Art District on Rossville Avenue, the glass blowing studio, in tandem with Ignis, offers the public a rare chance to watch the dramatic glass-blowing process and see the finished display pieces.

ART X-TRACTOR (At Ignis Glass)
This amazing, interactive machine invites guests to choose 3-5 pieces of ephemera, place them into a slot, and within minutes a one-of-a-kind piece of art pops out. Each is a mini masterpiece uniquely reflecting both the artist and the person who chose the materials. The Art X-tractor appears at different venues each month, featuring different artists.

HASKEL SEARS DESIGN (1800 Rossville Ave. Suite 8)
Matt Sears founded Haskel Sears Design in Chattanooga in 2005. A core value of sustaining the environment leads Matt to build with reclaimed lumber, environ-mentally sensitive adhesives and finishes, and smarter use and reuse of resources. Each contemporary heirloom is constructed around nature and its possibilities, and taps into the beauty and strength of the wood.

Be sure to check out Last Fridays on Main on Facebook for frequent updates about local artistic happenings.

Posted by Phillip in Arts in Culture
Stand & Deliver: Safety Thursday, May 20, 2010

CreateHere is proud to announce Stand & Deliver, a series of civic “interventions” designed to channel the time and talent of Chattanooga citizens into community-building efforts, new and old.

In the coming months, CreateHere will be partnering with local organizations, institutions, businesses, and individuals to address major themes that emerged from the Stand survey results—specifically, concern about Chattanooga’s future in the areas of public safety, education, and the environment.

Stand & Deliver: Safety is the first of these three Stand & Deliver events and will take place June-September of this year. Aiming CreateHere’s proven methods and models at connecting around a community goal, Stand & Deliver consists of four citizen-led stages—all centered on improving quality of life and making Chattanooga a safer city.

City Share // June 9, June 23, and July 7:
The next three City Share luncheons will each feature a panel of local crime prevention and safety experts who will help define and contextualize crime as a community problem.

June 9 // Crime in Context
@ Bessie Smith Hall | 200 E MLK Blvd 
Panelists: David Eichenthal, Tim Dempsey, Vivian Hixson, Sgt. Toby Hewitt

June 23 // One Goal, Many Approaches
@ Bessie Smith Hall | 200 E MLK Blvd
 Panelists: Bea Lurie, Lt. Brian Cotter, Helen Eigenberg

July 7 // Idea Exchange
@ Urban League | 730 E MLK Blvd
Panelists: TBD

Action Lab Blitz // July 16-17
Action Lab Workshop Series // July-August 
Teams of local crime prevention partners will connect with a diverse group of local experts & enthusiasts for an intensive and results-focused community brainstorm. To increase sustainability, impact, and reach of their collaborative efforts, the Action Lab will continue as a multi-part, goal-setting workshop series where teams and individuals will work together to establish long-term outcomes.

City Share // July 21, August 4, August 18, September 1
This second round City Share events will function as a venue for Action Lab teams to report the progress of their collaborative efforts. City Share attendees will be given the opportunity to engage in open conversation with these teams and self-select opportunities to contribute based on interest, time, and/or talents.

Stand & Deliver: A Public Celebration of Crime Reduction Efforts // September 11 @ Coolidge Park
This celebration increases community awareness of the many local crime prevention efforts in a fun, unexpected, and guilt-free setting, providing an opportunity to enlist potential partners, funders, and volunteers. Stand & Deliver’s Public Celebration will showcase the success of local collaboration and generate excitement for continuing to make Chattanooga communities safer places to live, work, and play.

Posted by Administrator in Culture in Safety
A Legacy of Place-Based Change Monday, May 17, 2010

The entire CreateHere team was saddened to hear of the loss of Jack Lupton on Sunday afternoon. Though most of us never had the opportunity to meet him, he laid the groundwork for all of our efforts today. Among Mr. Lupton’s passions was a reverence for place-based change and a belief that citizens could shape their own collective destiny. As such, he created a legacy that lives on today in Chattanooga, a city we lovingly call home and which we recognize as a center for civic engagement regionally.

As students of Chattanooga’s history, we know that Mr. Lupton played a catalytic role in helping the city’s residents regain a sense of civic pride. He was pivotal in a movement to build unprecedented networks of connectivity across disciplines, breaking down institutional walls—and we are still served well by that spirit of neighborliness.

Hearing of Mr. Lupton’s passing reminded us of an interview between himself and Bill Dedman of the Chattanooga Times, conducted in 1986. His words ring as true today as they did some 25 year ago. On this day, in honor of Mr. Lupton, we pledge not to make the biggest mistake of all. We ask that you do the same. Pledge to renew the Chattanooga Way, learn from a leader, get out, shake something up, and do something.

Posted by Phillip
Re:Start’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The first day Erin Gruwell walked through the doors of Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, she was entirely unprepared for her introduction to a community filled with gang violence, high juvenile detention rates, and drugs. It didn’t take long for shock to become action as she encouraged students to rechart their futures by rethinking themselves. The students she encountered soon became critical thinkers, college students, and real citizens within their communities.

You may remember this story from The Freedom Writers Diary, the book published by Gruwell and her students, or the 2007 film Freedom Writers that retold their story to a wider audience.

Tomorrow night, Re:Start – The Center for Adult Education in Chattanooga is welcoming Erin Gruwell to the Tivoli stage as part of their 50th Anniversary Celebration. In addition to being founder and president of the Freedom Writers Foundation, Gruwell is one of the most respected educators in the country, widely known for the transformative way her influence as a teacher converted student apathy into responsible action.

Since Erin Gruwell’s story has inspired educators in our region and around the world, Re:Start’s goal is to make tomorrow night’s event accessible for as many people in the Chattanooga community as possible. They’ve focused specifically on teens and young adults, partnering with event sponsors who will serve as benefactors for area non-profits and organizations serving at-risk youth. Sponsors include Brewer Broadcasting, Chattem, Unum, Benwood Foundation, Pannell Mechanical, Inc., and WRCB Channel 3.

Tickets for Thursday evening’s event are $15 and are available online or by calling the Memorial Auditorium box office at (423) 757-5050.

And in case you aren’t familiar with Re:Start’s work in our community, here’s what they’re all about: “Re:Start is an adult education service dedicated to the idea that educated adults have greater economic opportunity, are less vulnerable to those who would take advantage, are less likely to live in poverty, and make more productive citizens and better parents, therefore making Chattanooga a better community.”

Posted by Phillip in Culture in Education