Chattanooga museum’s basement becomes a nightclub for one night each year

On Saturday, Feb. 20, the basement of the Hunter Museum of American Art will be transformed from a quiet space used only for storage into a raucous nightclub with live music, dancing and shouts of glee as people win valuable pieces of art.

The Avant-Art group of young patrons at the museum created Hunter Underground a decade ago to attract their peers to the museum and to art collecting.

“Hunter Underground is a really unique and fun party in the basement of the Hunter, always fresh and exciting, and happens to be the only time that part of the museum is open to the public,” says Aly Haugland, museum membership and donor coordinator.

“Underground is a great way to bring some new faces to the Hunter and to engage the new collector,” she says. “The silent auction is tailored to make art collecting more accessible, featuring art under $500, and is a way to support local and emerging artists.”

Also on the event playlist is the Smash & Grab Gallery in which patrons can buy a raffle ticket for $25 each or five for $100. The people who have their ticket drawn then have 30 seconds to rush into the gallery and grab one piece for keeping.

Haugland says the committee found works by artists in Chattanooga and Atlanta for this year’s silent auction, and several local artists donated pieces for the Smash & Grab.

“Many well-known local artists have very generously donated their works to the Smash & Grab Gallery this year, including Cessina Decosimo, Timur Akhriev and Liz Lindstrom, so it will be a really exciting opportunity for some lucky winners to add a wonderful piece to their art collection,” she says. “Someone could walk away with a Cessna piece for $25, which is amazing.

“Proceeds from Smash & Grab ticket sales go directly toward the important work the Hunter does for students in our community, so the donation that these artists are making really goes a long way.”

Music and video for the temporary disco will be provided by DJ Southtek & Tape Canvas. Alleia is providing the food for the evening.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.