Chattanooga has 14 outstanding cultural and educational organizations that have joined together in Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga to fund and perform many varied activities. They benefit our schoolchildren and our public in general. Allied Arts admirably has been recognized to receive a $124,000 grant from the Troy, Mich., Kresge Foundation to examine and promote the local Allied Arts operations.
Our Allied Arts organization includes these cultural interests: The Arts and Education Council, Association of Visual Arts, Ballet Tennessee, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Chattanooga Ballet, Chattanooga Boys Choir, Chattanooga Girls Choir, Chattanooga History Center, Chattanooga Symphony and Orchestra, Chattanooga Theatre Center, Choral Arts of Chattanooga, Creative Discovery Museum, Hunter Museum of American Art and the Shaking Ray Levi Society.
Now, isn’t that cultural variety?
Dan Bowers, president of Allied Arts, said, “This grant is very fortuitous in that it will allow us to accomplish tasks laid out in our strategic plan at a much more accelerated pace and in a fashion that will be deeper and have greater impact than what we had originally deemed possible. Allied Arts, our cultural partners and the Chattanooga arts community will be stronger because of this work.”
Dr. Thomas Wolf of Cambridge, Mass., has made several weeklong visits to Chattanooga in connection with the generous Kresge grant. He says he has found volunteer activity in Chattanooga’s cultural organizations very unusual for a community of this size. He is making recommendations to promote these diverse organizations that serve our people in many ways.