ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Chattanooga’s Cultural Evolution
“Arts Forward” forges a path to the future “Making Space” For Women When you walk through the doors of Chattanooga WorkSpace on 6th Street downtown across from the YMCA, you’ll have a hard time believing that the vibrant building used to be a one-star nursing home. After a much needed renovation, the building was transformed into the colorful, creative place it is today. In its décor and in its operation, Chattanooga Workspace promotes joy and a zeal for life, aiming to create a positive space for artists to work together. The space contains forty-two private studios for artists to work their magic, in addition to hosting Open Studios during the first Friday of each month. This Friday’s event is especially significant because the focus—in fact the entire collection—is art created by women. March is Women’s History Month and in celebration, Chattanooga WorkSpace is hosting “Making Space: Artwork by Amazing Women.” Wander through four floors of artistry and experience the work of thirty local artists, all women, who specialize in everything from weaving to photography to oil painting, and anything in between. The women of Chattanooga are absolutely bursting with artistic talent, and now is the perfect time to show it off. The event is free and begins at 5:30 p.m., so bring your mom, your girlfriends, or your sister and celebrate womanhood through art. — Halley Andrews
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OR THE LAST THREE YEARS, CHATTANOOGA’S artistic community has been undergoing a kind of quiet revolution. In rooms all over the city, arts leaders have been sharing the challenges they face on myriad issues, big and small, in a quest for solutions. By Todd Olson Pulse contributor
The revolution is called “Arts Forward” and it’s an initiative which aims to strengthen and empower arts organizations in areas such as sustainability, operating capacity, programming, and internal processes. Specific program goals include fostering better collaboration between arts groups and finding ways of empowering professionals. The creation of Arts Forward began in 2016 with Kathleen Nolte,
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Program Officer for the Lyndhurst Foundation, and Kristy Huntley, Program Officer for the Benwood Foundation. For years community arts groups frequently approached these local foundations seeking financial help, as well as guidance on topics such as capacity building, new staffing strategies, improved board training, and long-range planning. Nolte and Huntley had a notion that they could address these needs within the Chattanooga arts ecosystem. Nolte had heard of a consultant
group called Arts Action Research, run by a dynamic duo, Nello McDaniel and Anne Dunning. They had a reputation for in-depth and complex organizational development with arts groups. Nolte also heard of the good work they had done with many groups in North Carolina, and so she reached out to them. Nello and Anne specialized in working with arts workers and thinkers in a consortium format, building strong networks of communication and collaboration within those communities. It was clear to Nolte and Huntley that Nello and Anne’s cohortstyle approach could be helpful and timely. Late in 2016, Nello visited Chattanooga for conversations with foundation officials and other arts makers. Soon thereafter, program framework and a timeline
