ArtsBuild is pleased to announce the 2026-2027 recipients of the Tennessee Arts Commission’s (TAC) Arts Build Communities (ABC) grants.
The ABC grant program is designed to provide support for arts projects that broaden access to arts experiences, address community quality of life issues through the arts, and enhance the sustainability of asset-based cultural enterprises.
ArtsBuild manages the grant applications for Hamilton County on behalf of TAC. Eight nonprofit organizations were funded: Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga (BBBS), Bridge Builder Collective, Lookout Live, Inc. dba Lookout Comedy, Next Exit Productions, Scenic City Shakespeare, Songbirds Foundation, Inc., University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and WauMaus, Inc.
A summary of each project:
- BBBS will implement Matches & Masterpieces: Empowering Chattanooga Youth through Collaborative Arts, a workshop series that brings together youth and their mentors to explore diverse creative mediums. Over six sessions, participants will work with local artists to create individual and joint pieces, shifting from art consumers to active cultural creators.
- Bridge Builder Collective will implement The Soundtrack of Chattanooga: Our Stories, Our Voices, a youth-centered, interdisciplinary arts project designed to amplify the voices and lived experiences of students in Hamilton and Bradley counties. The project will launch in Fall 2026 with a cohort of approximately 40 middle and high school students participating in the organization’s Navigators Mentoring Program. Students will visit the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, followed by arts experiences developed in partnership with Stove Works and other local creative partners.
- Lookout Live Inc. dba Lookout Comedy will facilitate the Creative Entrepreneurship & Professional Development Access Initiative, a professional development and artist advancement program designed to help emerging and experienced Tennessee comedians build sustainable creative careers through festival participation, entrepreneurial training, application coaching, and industry networking opportunities.
- Next Exit Production’s Cast Iron Storytelling project entitled Myths combines literary arts, oral history, and live performance to transform everyday community members into artists. Myths invites storytellers to explore true experiences about misconceptions that shaped their lives or moments they redefined beliefs about relationships or identity. The free culminating performance with be at Plant Bar in North Chattanooga on February 25, 2027.
- Scenic City Shakespeare will present Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare at Greenway Farm Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee in May 2027. Free performances will take place on Friday and Saturday evenings from May 7th - May 29th.
- Songbirds Foundation will provide afterschool arts education and creative workforce development programming to middle and high school students in Hamilton County, Tennessee during the 2026-27 academic year, partnering with schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, and community centers. Students participate in hands-on learning experiences led by professional teaching artists, producers, engineers, photographers, videographers, and other creative professionals working in the field.
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will partner with Walnut Street Publishing and Stove Works to start a free community writers’ workshop series that connects local writers associated with academia and “underground” writers to co-lead workshops in different genres. The workshops will be held the first Saturday of the month at Stove Works.
- WauMaus, Inc. will facilitate Search Party’s The Call, a community-engaged research, design, and placemaking process that transforms the rooftop of CARTA's publicly owned parking garage at 211 Broad Street. Working alongside local artists, they will reimagine a familiar civic structure as a multi-sensory arts environment where visitors can explore interactive installations, experience live performances, and participate in hands-on programming.
For more information or questions about ArtsBuild’s grant programs, visit artsbuild.com.