Love Art, Give Art, Get a Shirt!
It's Valentine's week, you would love to give that special someone a meaningful piece of art. What? Not quite ready to splurge on that Picasso just yet? Fear not my friend, We have a WAY more meaningful gift in mind. When you make a donation of $25 or more this week, you will not only bring an inspirational art experience to at least 5 children that do not have art in their elementary school, you will also get this amazing t-shirt to give as a gift or wear with pride.
Oh yeah, did we mention that you will also be able to see this artwork up close in May? Bring your sweetie to our free public art tailgater and you can tell them with pride that you made this happen.
Donate Today, Help a Child,
and Have the Best Date Ever!!!
Urban Art Bikes at Mainx24!
Our urban art bike team will once again be part of Main Street's community celebration. On Saturday, December 6th, be on the lookout for your wildest dreams on wheels during The Mainx24 parade at 10:30am. After the parade, join us next to the Flying Squirrel on Passenger Street for rides and fun from noon to 4pm. Come out, Shoot some hoops with our basketball bike, ride a beast, and meet the kids that built these amazing creations in our Williams Street workshop.
While you're there, donate $20 and grab a t-shirt. You can sport a cool design while getting some serious street cred for supporting our programs while supplies last!
A Tale of 2 Maker Faires and 1 Fire Tornado
October was a busy month for our Urban Art Bikers. The kids from The Bethlehem Center attended Maker Faire Atlanta where they received a lot of positive feedback from thousands of attendees that stopped to try out their art bikes. The students also
received three exhibit of merit awards for their creations. All in all, Atlanta’s Maker Faire had 30,000 people in attendance over the two day event.
The following week, we were back in Chattanooga where kids from The Bethlehem Center and two of our Glass Street Students participated and shared their creations with a crowd of 2,200. Also on exhibit was Art 120’s first collaborative art piece with the community, Mr. Twister Fire Tornado. A big thanks to Siskin Steel for supplying all the metal and board member Conrad Tengler for stepping up to the challenge along with artist Andrew Nigh, Mike Harrison, and Bryan Dyer. People really seemed to enjoy the sculpture and we will continue to work as a team to figure out our next steps with this really cool, bike powered piece.
NEXT STOP: Mainx24!
Flying Donut Incident Makes History!
On the morning of Friday, September 19th, 2014 A.D. The Flying Donut Incident began in the scenic city of Chattanooga, Tennessee during Park(ing) Day. People came from far and wide to lend a hand and launch a donut for art and mural. The battle waged on for six hours. Many donuts were caught during the onslaught. Others were eaten by hungry warriors. Thanks to the brave citizens of Chattanooga, this day will be remembered in art history!
Teaching with STE(A)M
How do you make STE(A)M? Take STEM-Based learning and add art. Hands-on STE(A)M programs like this are a wonderful way to develop design skills in students alongside engineering and math. Students on our workshops also learn how to use power tools and weld in order to make their creations come to life. If you have been following our posts, you may have already heard about what the boys were up to, but did you see what our girls' teams came up with? Reporter Lauren St. Germain from Newschannel 9 stopped by and captured their progress.
Urban Art Bike Summer
July is already here and three new art bike contraptions are about to be revealed! The Bethlehem Center, located in the Alton Park neighborhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee is partnering with us to teach the skills necessary to create an art bike. So far, nine young men, ranging in age from 11 to 15 years old are learning about art, design, and fabrication.
Join us next week as we post interviews from our class and take a look what the young ladies from The Bethlehem Center come up with.
Urban Art Bikes are Moving In!
Art 120 is thrilled to announce the opening of their new location just off Main and Broad at 1511 Williams Street. Their new studio will serve as their main office and workshop space to create, teach, and build mobile creations. “We are especially excited about the opportunity to introduce youth to welding this year.” said executive director, Kathryn Warren.
This year, Art 120 is partnering with the Bethlehem Center to bring their youth through the Urban Art Bike Program. In order to accommodate this group, Art 120 is holding special teacher training classes beginning June 6th. The 7 day course runs Friday-Saturday and Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm with a 1 hour break for lunch. Teachers will learn how to instruct a team through Art 120’s sculpture process using a variety of tools and techniques, including welding.
The cost for the class is $400 and includes all gear, supplies, and materials. If participants satisfy the requirements of the course and can commit to teaching, they will be eligible to receive a stipend of up to $1600 and have their tuition reimbursed depending on commitment and availability. Each teacher will be assigned a team of four youth and an assistant for each three week session.
Youth Session 1 Monday thru Thursday, Noon-3pm June 16- July 4th Fridays, 10am-2:30pm.
Youth Session 2Monday thru Thursday, Noon-3pm July 7- July 25th. Fridays, 10am-2:30pm.
Apply Today! http://art120.org/get-involved/iteachartbikes/
Chattanooga Art Shows Big in Houston
As you know, everything is big, Big, BIG, in Texas. The Houston Art Car Parade is no exception, boasting over 260 art car and contraption entries this year and an impressive turnout that topped their previous record of 300,000. The weekend was full of fun and creativity, including three creations from Chattanooga with artists Wendy Tippens, Conrad Tengler, and our own Urban Art Bike gang. Needless to say, we were well represented and artist, Conrad Tengler, took home the first place trophy for Best cycle. This was a very inspirational and reaffirming trip for our crew. All of us returned refreshed and ready to create with new ideas and friends for our event next year. Inspiration flowed from the ball to the parade and everywhere else. Check out these images from Houston taken by Anna Lee at Alternative Houston, Wendy Tippens from Chattanooga, and Houston artist, Carol Wells.
By Night…
Urban Art Bike Workshops Coming!!!
The Art Car weekend was a huge success!!!! Our artists visited over 7,000 students in Hamilton County that do not have access to art, we had four school entries in the parade, and record turnout for our events. We will post pictures and details soon, but first summer is coming an we cannot wait to share our summer opportunities with you. Here's a sneak peek! See you on the Southside!
Scenic City Art Car Weekend Begins this Friday!
Chattanooga, start your engines! The 3rd Annual Scenic City Art Car Parade will kick off with a very creative morning commute as our artists head to local schools without and art program on Friday morning, continue with a super disco costume fun-raiser in Miller Plaza from 7-10pm, and wrap it all up with the Tailgate Party and Parade beginning in the Majestic 12 parking lot. It's all free but if you come to the ball, bring your appetite. We have some fabulous food trucks lined up and a portion of the proceeds will go toward our arts education programs.