Dana Moody spearheads an artistic revitalization with pop up art and design
In what could be considered a confluence of state universities, local non-profits, volunteers and low-income residents, an abandoned church at the foot of Missionary Ridge is taking on a new role to serve as a pop-up art and design studio, all in the name of historic preservation.
Dr. Dana Moody spearheads the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s interior design graduate program. Through a grant provided by Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners, Moody, along with Dr. Neslihan Alp of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at UTC, got the ball rolling by identifying parts of the city that needed help.
“One of our graduate students, Rachel Hunt and her husband, did a case study of six different cities to see their level of historic preservation, or lack thereof,” explains Moody.
Stipulations of the grant meant it had to include three disciplines: Architecture, Engineering, and Interior Design. UTC only houses engineering and interior design schools and had to reach out within the state system.With the help of David Fox, an associate professor of architecture and design at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the grant was written in a week. “Another stipulation was the location had to be low-income part of the city,” adds Moody. “We needed enough space to add a three room studio.”
A pair of UTC alumni offered what they thought could serve as the ideal property, although you may not necessarily think of art when talking about 1598 Dodds Avenue. If you Google the property, you see a pin for the First Baptist Church.
When you arrive at the property, the only sign out front reads “Soul Saving Station.” Walk in the back door and hang a left where a gleaming sanctuary sits empty, complete with stain glass windows, pews and an organ.
“When John Stone and John Simpson offered the property to the university, it only took some architecture and engineering students to clean up the place,” says Moody.
The grant totals $10,000 to be used across 10 properties, so $1,000 per project. Once they secured the church, they started to reach out to the community.
“We got a little bit of push back from people, like “Who are you to know what I need?” says Moody. “We soon found out our clients needed help with energy efficiency and accessibility, things like replacing thermostats and adding wheelchair ramps to help the elderly. And then we really have learned a lot partnering with organizations like Widows Harvest.”
Andy Mendonsa is the founder and executive director of Widows Harvest Ministries, which bases its service on the example of Anna the Prophetess (Luke 2) and the scriptural mandate for widows “to cry out to the Lord night and day through prayer” (I Timothy 5:5).
For the past 30 years, the organization has provided spiritual support and home repair services for thousands of widows, both locally and overseas.When I arrive at the church, Mendonsa is a special guest of professor in residence Andrew Smith, who has worked as an architect in Chattanooga off and on since 1972.
The class meets so they can create an inventory of clients, in this case widows, to find out what they need most. “In all the time I’ve been doing this, it seems there is always a roof leak right above the bedroom,” jokes Mendonsa during class.
Moody says her department has a partnership with local non-profit Cornerstones where they pay a professional to help develop the historic preservation curriculum and to teach a class. “We had to hire a licensed architect and we were fortunate to find Andy,” she says.
In addition to working on the completion of the TBAEE Grant, Smith is teaching graduate students how to write historic tax credits for the building that houses the pop-up studio.
Smith introduces a concept known as “Fifth Business” to his class. It’s the title of a book published in 1972 by Robertson Davies. A summary of the book describes characters in dramatic acting which are neither those of hero nor heroine, confidante nor villain, but which were nonetheless roles essential to bring about the recognition or resolution to a story. Think of it as a character actor who helps push the plot along.
Smith views his role as almost facilitator trying to serve the best interest of those he serves.
“Our ultimate goal is bigger than this grant,” says Smith. “We look at the project as open sourced and we want to keep it going as long as we can.”