CHA Creates takes an ambitious look at art in Chattanooga
Chattanooga is tucked between mountains, a ridge, a roaring river that bends through Native American heritage and Civil War history. The new millennium has been good to the Scenic City with a revitalization of downtown and a commitment to the arts.
There’s maybe no medium more important to preserving our history than public art. The city’s public art program, Public Art Chattanooga, hasn’t always been a priority but now under the direction of Katelyn Kirnie, the die has been cast for public art to thrive now and in the future.
“The last time Chattanooga had a public art plan was 2003, so it’s been a while,” says Kirnie. “It’s been long overdue.”
Kirnie, a Chattanooga native who previously worked in public art programming in Boston, where she was the visual arts manager for the city’s Rose Kennedy Greenway, accepted the role of executive director a few years ago.
A citizens’ committee, appointed by Mayor Andy Berke, oversees PAC but the department’s first major initiative is starting to take shape and be unveiled early next year.
CHA Creates is the most ambitious public art plan Chattanooga has ever seen.
The plan got started with a nationwide search for consultants. Gail M. Goldman and Associates came on board to facilitate the public art strategic planning process through the end of the year.
“People were enthusiastic about public art here,” says Goldman’s consulting partner Barbara Goldstein. “It represents the community and empowers by honoring history and creating a tangible place.”
Prior to this project, Goldman conducted twenty-six city, county, and transportation-related public art master plans that include policy and legislative analysis, development of administrative guidelines, identification of artwork locations and project goals, organizational structure, funding, public/private partnerships, artist selection methodology, project implementation, and community engagement.
Goldstein’s resume is equally impressive and includes drafting nine public art master plans along with directing public art programs in Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Jose, California. She has also organized three Public Art 101 conferences and is the author of Public Art by the Book, recognized as a definitive primer in the field.
Public art administration is a highly specialized field, with over 450 programs nationally.
The dynamic duo of Goldman and Goldstein began CHA Creates by reaching out through focus groups to local artists, social change leaders through Causeway, and urban design professionals hosted by Chattanooga Design Studio.
“Everything we’re recommending came from the 650 people we spoke with,” says Goldman. “If it was recommended, we wanted to see if it was feasible.”
The plan also puts genuine emphasis on neighborhoods that may have been overlooked.
“Again, we want to empower those people who live in these communities to see public art as a tool and recognize a chance to redevelop downtown, integrate public art and increase access to it,” continues Goldman. “We want to provide opportunity and celebrate Chattanooga with the artists who already live here.”
This includes mentorships, artist-in-residence programs and working with those organizations already embedded in the community. Business leaders with the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, city artists with Stove Works, and the Festival of Black Art and Ideas were some groups involved with helping develop CHA Creates.
“The leadership, foundations, business community, River City Company, and the Trust for Public Land want to see the city invest and pursue thinking about how public art helps develop the community,” says Goldstein.
The public art strategy is designed to match other public plans.
“Artists have a big role to play to help neighborhoods articulate issues that drive them and what is meaningful there,” says Goldstein. “They help express a better understanding no one else can.”
Like a lot of creative work, the emphasis on process is as important as product with public art.
“The process of public art is celebrating the process of creativity,” says Goldman. “That’s the role of the strategic plan; to tell stories of Chattanooga.”
As the plan started taking shape, a map of the area was used to develop a ten-year process, which will evolve over time. CHA Creates hopes to serve as a resource to those who live and work here and looks to locals for their recommendations and priorities.
Kirnie was pleasantly surprised and overwhelming by the outpouring of support for public art when she first arrived.
“We want to create programs we’re all proud of,” says Kirnie. “This could serve as a guide for private developers. We’re already hearing from them.”
The consulting team was impressed Chattanooga’s public art program exists directly under the office of the mayor.
“We’ve found in other cities, more often than not, it is buried under some obscure department,” says Goldman. “It was easier to recommend a profile structure where CHA Creates involves every city department as a result.”
The timing was perfect where CHA Creates could provide a cohesiveness logistically to cut through the red tape.
“One of the important things for success is awareness,” says Goldstein. “People don’t think how did that piece of public art get there.”
Both Goldman and Goldstein are leaders in public art nationally and have years of experience. Throughout their careers, they have developed national best practices. They want to create a structure that focuses on administration and for the success of the plan to be self-perpetuating.
First, identifying public art through built environments helps engage and bring the community together. Then, you want to elevate local artists and their process where they help decide on how to utilize the space.
“Hopefully this will then promote equity and increase access for diverse artists throughout the community,” says Goldstein. “It can also be abstract. It could be utility boxes playing music or it could be a mural or sculpture.”
Best practice also encourages multi-discipline artists to work together. For example, a poet, a visual public artist, and musicians could work together to create a multi-dimensional experience. Pop up experiences have become popular recently and can provide a continuation of partnerships between parties.
“Ultimately we want it to be fundamental and nurturing,” says Goldstein.
Finally, the framework should highlight history and place.
“You want to make and keep unique character of a particular neighborhood, while it’s changing and growing,” says Goldstein. “Older people will go and new people will move in. It’s not about replacing the old because you need that to highlight history; it’s about building on it.”
A good example would be the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard Mural on the AT&T Building.
Another good example is The Passage beside the Tennessee Aquarium. The Passage is a pedestrian link between downtown Chattanooga and the Tennessee River and marks the beginning of the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears refers to the journey which forced the removal of the Cherokee tribes from Ross’s Landing in Chattanooga to Oklahoma. Some 4000 Cherokees died before reaching Oklahoma.
The Passage is a permanent outdoor exhibit, with symbolism of the seven clans of the Cherokee Nation. There is a “weeping wall” representing the tears shed as the Cherokee were driven from their homes and removed on the Trail of Tears.
Seven, six-foot ceramic disks tell the story of the Cherokee Nation from hundreds of years of Native American habitation in the Southeast. Seven, 14-foot tall stainless steel sculptures of stickball players grace the wall facing the river, educating visitors about the game and its importance to Cherokee culture.
“Then once you walk through aquarium plaza it continues to be interactive,” says Kirnie. “You can splash your feet in the water. This is specific to Chattanooga. It appeals to people of all ages and abilities. It tells the story of Chattanooga.”
The plan wants CHA Creates to continue that sort of wow factor going forward.
“You want public art to be small scale because you want it to infiltrate neighborhoods,” says Goldman. “You want memories and to build anticipation for those who live here. There’s already a lot of art here for a town as small as Chattanooga.”
But as it stands now, I haven’t seen anything specific about CHA Creates, only spoken with Kirnie, Goldman and Goldstein.
“We took a map of the city and labeled places,” says Goldman. “Some could be temporary, like pop-up installations for example. We’re looking at city-owned property.”
Kirnie assures me it’s a robust program that’s sustainable and intent on fostering partnerships.
“We want to make the city proactive,” says Goldstein. “The city has a vision and public art is a part of that vision.”
Kevin Hale is a journalist and internet and television marketer living in North Chattanooga. He enjoys chasing flying saucers and saving bees with his 6-year old son.