First up this week, a call for help from a local arts organization.
Since emerging in 2009 from the backroom of a Dayton Boulevard music store, the Folk School of Chattanooga has become one of the best things to happen to this city’s art scene in years. In its own way, it has done as much for the city musically as Track 29, if in different ways.
Recently, however, the school’s future has become less certain. In June, executive director/teacher/musician Christie Burns arrived to find a note tacked to the door of its Rossville Avenue building. Without going into too many details, suffice to say the school’s landlords told them they were in violation of several city codes and would be forced to leave less than a year into the three-year lease they signed last September.
Now, Burns and company need a new home. I’ve avidly followed the development of the Folk School for the last four years, and it’s sad, to say the least, seeing it floating aimlessly about. Its events currently are being hosted at temporary venues.
According to instructor and co-founder John Boulware, the school needs a building of about 5,000 square feet with three or four rooms for private lessons and two or three larger spaces for group lessons. Ample parking is a must, and a room that could serve as a performance space would be a nice bonus feature.