Peggy Petrey makes earrings out of license plates.
Peggy Petrey hammers a cuff bracelet into the correct shape in her Main Street studio.
John Petrey works in his Main Street studio.Professional artists, the ones who make their living selling their work, say they find many advantages in calling Chattanooga their home base. Among them: a beautiful place to live and work that allows for easy travel to other parts of the country, affordable housing and work spaces, as well as a vibrant community of peers and even local people who want to support the arts. What they don’t find, at least not in numbers large enough to sustain them, are people willing to pay for their work.
An economic impact study done in 2010 found that residents of Hamilton County who attended area nonprofit arts and culture events such as Riverbend and the 4 Bridges Arts Festival spent an average of $23.61, excluding admission. This number does not reflect sales at galleries and private sales.
The city of Chattanooga has touted itself of late as an arts city, home to a growing number of professional artists, public art pieces, numerous arts-based festivals, museums, galleries and studios. Initiatives such as ArtsMove, originally created by Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga (now ArtsBuild) in 2006, were implemented to lure creatives to town.
So what do they find when they get here?
“I know I exaggerate when I say this, but I liken it to Paris in the ’20s,” says sculptor Roger Halligan, 65.