Local wood artist Rudd Montgomery long dreamed of having a storefront to showcase his work.
For the last seven years, the well-known furniture maker displayed his pieces, large and small, at regional craft fairs and seasonally at the Chattanooga Market.
On Saturday, Mr. Montgomery’s dream will come true. He, along with wood artists David Crew and Phil Timm, officially will open Area 61, a collective showroom for local artists and craftsmen, at 61 Main St.
Area 61 is the latest art-related business to open in the budding community known as the Southside art district.
“I’ve dreamed of having a place where people can come in and see what I’ve made,” said Mr. Montgomery, owner of Push Hard Lumber Co. on Signal Mountain. “So many times when people show up unexpectedly at my shop, dust will be flying everywhere. I’ll have a beautiful walnut table covered with an inch of dust, magazines and newspapers. I’ll dust it off and tell them that the table really is beautiful.”
A few doors down from Area 61 at CreateHere, people are abuzz about a new art adventure that will debut there Saturday. Art-o-mat, a vintage art machine that contains cigarette pack-sized art pieces, will be placed permanently at CreateHere. Its creator, Clark Whittington, will be the guest of honor at a reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The public is invited.
“Little pieces of art, at $5 each, pop out of the vending machine like a pack of cigarettes,” said Elana Gulas, CreateHere spokeswoman.
Art-o-mats are limited to one per city, according to a news release, and the one here will be the first of its kind in the Southeast. The machines feature works from a network of more than 400 artists in 11 countries.
“That’s what’s really cool about it — local artists can apply,” Ms. Gulas said. “It’s also affordable to the consumer. It makes original art accessible.”
Another change coming soon to the Southside is seven new art sculptures to replace ones now positioned alongside Main Street.
According to Peggy Townsend, interim director of Public Art Chattanooga, the pieces were selected by a “hybrid committee” consisting of Public Art Chattanooga members, community property owners and estate holders.
“Two of the current pieces, John Petry’s ‘Dress’ and Ray Alfonso’s ‘Celestral Clockwork’ were purchased by the Lyndhurst Foundation and will remain on Main Street as a permanent collection,” Mrs. Townsend said. “The other pieces will rotate out by the end of the month.”
The new art will be in place by the first week of June, she said.
Each work will be available for purchase, though it must be displayed on site for two years.
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Artomat
Feature writer Karen Nazor Hill covers fashion, design, home and gardening, pets, entertainment, human interest features and more. She also is an occasional news reporter and the Town Talk columnist. She previously worked for the Catholic newspaper Tennessee Register and was a reporter at the Chattanooga Free Press from 1985 to 1999, when the newspaper merged with the Chattanooga Times. She won a Society of Professional Journalists Golden Press third-place award in feature writing for ...
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