As our nation prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary, local artists and arts organizations are helping tell the stories that connect us to our shared past while inspiring our collective future – and ArtsBuild’s grants make the work possible.
Through the United We Create: America 250 grants, ArtsBuild awarded funding to ten local organizations to develop original artistic projects that explore the history, culture, and identity of Chattanooga and Hamilton County. These grants were made possible through support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Each funded project pairs artists with community organizations to create performances, exhibitions, and public programs that invite residents and visitors to reflect on the American experience through a local lens. In keeping with the spirit of accessibility and civic engagement, every project will include at least one free public performance or exhibition.
We are proud to support the following organizations and projects with $4,000 grants each:
- Art 120: United We Dance, a free, public celebration on October 17, 2026, will showcase Chattanooga's diverse cultural communities, from indigenous Cherokee to contemporary immigrant cultures, featuring live performances and a multicultural market.
- Art to Empower: A free public festival at Miller Park on August 29, 2026, will feature dance, music, Capoeira, youth performances, family activities, and community partners to highlight the importance of culturally affirming arts and education.
- Barking Legs Theater: Bill of Rights, a series of performances that explore and interpret the amendments with collaborative works by local artists, will be debuted to the public for free during Art 120’s United We Dance event on October 17, 2026.
- Beckett Arts Project: Charlotte’s Lost Water Bottle, an English/Spanish musical film based on local author Ann Cater’s book of the same name, will debut at the Chattanooga Zoo (date TBD), followed by free, public screenings at the Chattanooga Public Library, Signal Centers, City of Chattanooga’s Head Start facilities, and more.
- Be the Change Youth Initiative: A series of free, hands-on ceramic workshops that teach the history of earthenware ceramics as well as food insecurity in Hamilton County, while contributing to the Empty Bowls initiative, which helps pay down school food debt for local students.
- Chattanooga Audubon Society: Indigenous performances for the Audubon Society’s free annual event, Pioneer Days 2026, November 16-20.
- CHA Ballet: A free, public performance of High Lonesome, part of the Cinderella + Bluegrass showcase, that celebrated the musical traditions of our region through music by Randy Steele and the High Cold Wind and ballet performers at Ballet in the Park on May 2, 2026.
- Next Exit Productions: Cast Iron Storytelling presents “Volunteer,” true stories of patriotism on the Tennessee homefront, featuring six storytellers who will present patriotic acts and traditions that often go unnoticed or uncelebrated, on July 14, 2026, at The Plant Bar.
- SPLASH Arts: Ochre & Oxide - A 250-Year Legacy Art Commission - is a fine-art initiative celebrating the United States’ anniversary by documenting the literal physical DNA of Hamilton County. Debuts in late fall/winter 2026.
- WUTC + Southern Exposure Productions: Partnering with the Chattanooga Public Library’s Local History Department and Rhyme-N-Chatt Spoken Word, WUTC and Southern Exposure Productions are transforming historic oral history interviews into poetic monologues for radio, podcast, and digital distribution. Directed by award-winning playwright Peggy Douglas, Ph.D., the series will air on WUTC 88.1.
"As we approach America 250, these projects remind us that the arts play a vital role in helping communities explore history, foster dialogue, celebrate diverse perspectives, and imagine the future we want to create together," said Arts Impact Coordinator Christina Sacco. "We look forward to sharing these inspiring works with the community in the coming months."