Community artists will take center stage next week for The Enterprise Center’s Storytelling Spaces free event series May 4-7. Featuring a wide range of mediums and interactive artwork, this series is focused on bringing access to the arts into neighborhoods and celebrating the many creatives who call Chattanooga home.
Eight local artists, who each received a $500 grant to complete their pitched projects, will kick off the event at Miller Plaza Wednesday May 4 from 5:30-7 p.m., then will showcase their work Thursday, May 6 at the Avondale Community Center (during the same evening time frame).
Saturday, May 7, the event series will finish at The Bethlehem Center from 1-3 p.m., with chances to chat with each artist and participate in interactive exhibits.
“It was really important to us to select locations that were meaningful to the artists and provide opportunities to access art (freely) in the communities they come from; to bring the work back to the places — and for the people — that inspired these projects,” said Storytelling Spaces grant and event coordinator Josiah Golson, also a local artist, published author and adjunct professor.
The artist grants for the project were made possible by Project for Public Spaces and facilitated by Golson and The Enterprise Center, with sponsorship support from River City Company.
“POETRAITS will be a gallery wall of hand-painted poetry on canvas,” said Meredith Garrett, who goes by River City Street Poet and is one of the selected artists. “Rather than my traditional, more delicate medium of typewriter and paper, I want to create a bold display of poignant, micro-poetry. Each poem will be a snapshot of a conversation with a stranger. Each prompt will be within a similar vein—finding belonging, building community, and forging new friendships throughout.”
Storytelling Spaces events are free and open to the public, featuring everything from projector-screen projects to photography and works on canvas exploring themes like homelessness and inclusivity, as well as jewelry workshops, a puppet performance, and more.
“As an organization focused on accessibility, we believe community art and facilitating conversations like these can have an impact that lasts long after the event ends,” said Deb Socia, President & CEO of The Enterprise Center. “We hope everyone comes out to uplift these local creatives and feels inspired by their passion-driven projects.”
List of artists:
- Jequise Beverly is a photographer whose series Black and Brown presents images of Beverly’s family and community in their softness and vulnerability in moments of relief of a world that so often demands their strength and resilience.
- Isela Arredondo, a jewelry maker, author, and health specialist, will facilitate an earring-making workshop as a space for storytelling, healing, and advocacy.
- Playful Evolving Monsters, led by puppet artist TJ Hanretta, will host a meet-and-greet with lantern-based puppets that the organization will feature in a large-scale puppet production in 2023.
- Jordan Scruggs is an artist, communicator, and activist whose interactive installation will invite people to share influential books and works of written words in a community archive.
- Jazmine LaBlanc is an artist, story sharer, and the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the East Lake Language and Arts Library (ELLA). LaBlanc will exhibit drawings and written work to present stories of people from Chattanooga’s unhoused population.
- Joshua Williams, a visual artist and student at Covenant College, will exhibit paintings and drawings that explore personal narratives in the contexts of dreams, fantasy, history, and pop culture.
- Elea Xylem is a multidisciplinary artist who will invite people to experience Chattanooga’s biodiversity and cultures through projecting abstracted scenes from throughout the city.
- Meredith Garrett, known as the River City Street Poet, is an on-the-spot-poet, who will create “Poetraits” that depict persons, their stories, and conversations through words painted with a brush.
For more information, visit the event page.