Shanequa Gay, an artist from Atlanta, missed seeing Bessie Smith perform live by nearly 70 years.
Now, because of the Bessie Smith Heritage Festival on Saturday, Gay said she is becoming part of the Chattanooga blues age she never got to experience.
“It’s a flashback to Bessie Smith, but I feel like by inserting my art that I’m becoming a part of that culture,” said Gay, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design who brought her paintings to sell at the festival.
Gay was just one of the artists and vendors at the festival, which hosted more than 800 people wanting to see renowned bluesman Bobby “Blue” Bland. Other musicians included Anthony David, Phil Perry and Maysa.
The festival celebrated a time when legendary singer Bessie Smith and other blues musicians like B.B. King and Ray Charles frequented the “Big Nine,” now Martin Luther King Boulevard, said event organizer Rose Martin.