Love.NotHate art showcase puts Barger mural efforts into motion

A silent auction Sunday, Oct. 16, at Barking Legs Theater will help turn several small works of art into giant murals.

Besides the art auction, the evening will include music, dancing and food. The money raised will be used to commission artist Kevin Bate to paint murals, with student support, at Barger Academy. Bate is the artist responsible for the “Fallen Five” mural on McCallie Avenue honoring the servicemen killed in the Chattanooga terrorist attack on July 16, 2015.

The idea for the Barger mural got its start several weeks ago with local artist Melissa Eaton.

“Over the summer, as the nation was experiencing a lot of violent chaos, I started creating copious amounts of art in an attempt to make sense of all the violence,” she explains. “My 14-year-old daughter, Arabella, made the side comment, ‘All that art is piling up. What are you going to do with it?'”

Eaton says the question caused her to reflect on how to put her art toward “something positive and tangible for the community of Chattanooga” and to demonstrate to her four children “the power of community engagement.”

Together, mother and daughter birthed the Love.NotHate project, with a mission of finding a muralist to create a large-scale work with student input and support that would be “highly visible in the community and communicate a message of unity, love and community.”

Eaton says Barger was suggested to her by a former therapist at the school. When she approached principal Greg Bagby and muralist Bate about the idea, “both jumped on board without hesitation,” she says.

Sunday’s fundraiser is supported by several local artists who’ve donated works and “sincerely want Chattanooga to be an even greater city, one full of love and unity,” Eaton says.

“I am a firm and sincere believer in helping communities be stronger through positive and unifying actions,” she adds.”Plus, my actions and the results of those actions create a ‘good energy’ ripple effect. Good energy flows outward and helps create other ripples of good energy, with the potential to form waves of positivity and proactive action across our various communities.”