In search of 100 creative works and acts of art

Mia Bergeron's life drawing animation will occur on Tuesday evening, April 17, at the Chattanooga Bank Building lobby. She will invite members of the public to participate in her sittings during the new 10X10 showcase. (Photo: MakeWork)

Designers, performers, sculptors, architects, painters and other creative individuals and groups are invited to submit ideas for a five-day celebration of creativity in downtown Chattanooga.

10X10 is a new public showcase of local creativity and history hosted by MakeWork and taking place on a 10-block footprint downtown during the newly created citywide HATCH event.

Applications are being accepted now through Feb. 20 from individual artists and collectives who would like to participate in April with an exhibition, installation or other creative experience to animate the streets of downtown.

Ten different, historically significant locations have been identified within a 10-block area, and each location will feature a single "artifact" created specifically to highlight the site's history. The artists creating each artifact have already been selected and include Lucinda Linderman, Phillip Andrew Lewis, Isaac Duncan III, Greg Pond, Shane Darwent, Gernot Reither, Cessna Decosimo, Amy Landesberg, Rondell Crier and a group of students from UTC.

A total of 90 additional artists and/or groups will be chosen from the applications received to energize the blocks around each artifact with their ideas.

"We want the public to experience different types of art in unexpected places," MakeWork director Kate Creason said.

An artifact located at Market and Seventh streets will explore the theme of early cinema, for example, and showcase the history of Chattanooga's first motion picture theater, Theato. Artist Philip Andrew Lewis has been commissioned to create a light and sound installation as his "artifact."

"Light and projection have a history there, so it is appropriate for Lewis' work to be showcased there," Creason said.

Creason said artists are encouraged to submit any idea that highlights what they do best, regardless of how it relates to the events' themes and destinations.

"We are determined to make every project work," she said.

So far, committed ideas that have been proposed and accepted include a Dr. Seuss fashion show, a balloon zoo, artificial fireflies, a monster bike parade, belly dancing, a jazz buffet and a poetry slam.

Local businesses and building owners within the 10-block footprint are also encouraged to get involved, according to Creason, who said the possibility is open for exhibits and other "animations" to take place in lobbies, restaurants and abandoned or unoccupied spaces.

"Streets, parking lots, parks and abandoned buildings will become a medium to innovate and celebrate creativity," Creason said in an email.