AVA’s Main Gallery at Frazier Avenue on the North Shore presents Ghosts in the Walls: Preservation as Memory, a member exhibition exploring the emotional and historical layers of Chattanooga’s architectural landscape.
Through painting, photography, watercolor, ink, and mixed media, artists reflect on how buildings hold memory and identity—and what is lost, altered, or remembered as the city transforms.
Participating Artists: Dana Moody, D.W. Gram, Randy Griffith, Douglas Johnson, Linnea Moody, Suzanne Mortimer, and Kristopher Young.
Also on display in AVA's Landis Education Gallery is "Drawing the Future from the Past," a student exhibition by UTC's Interior Architecture + Design Program reimagining Chattanooga's historic buildings through research-driven design.
The exhibition features final projects from students who study the history and cultural significance of at-risk sites, proposing adaptive reuse through detailed drawings and visual renderings. Collaborating with Preserve Chattanooga and professional mentors, these students aim to revitalize endangered structures and promote
And the stage installation in the gallery is The Weight She Carried by AVA member Nicci Schwartz. We all carry the weight of family—objects, stories, expectations, and silences. In her installation, Schwartz explores memory, lineage, loss, and resilience through delicate suspended images and fragments of vintage photographs.
Inspired by her matrilineal ancestors, Schwartz transforms personal family archives into a shared, intimate space that invites viewers to reflect on the histories we preserve, the stories at risk of being forgotten, and the quiet labor—often invisible—that shapes our lives.
The free public opening reception will be held Friday, January 9th from 6:00 to 9:0o pm. And also be sure to join them on Saturday, January 24th from 10:00 am to Noon, for a special public program with Preserve Chattanooga on local preservation efforts and how to get involved.
The exhibit will stay on view through February 27. Learn more about the AVA Gallery at www.avarts.org.