(Editor’s note: First of two parts)
The Chattanooga Daily Times headline on Sunday, Aug. 12, 1951, excited the Chattanooga arts community. The previous day, the Benwood Foundation had gifted the “beautiful and spacious home of the late George Thomas Hunter at 10 Bluff View to the Chattanooga Art Association for the creation of a permanent art museum. Today’s gift included a second house and lot at 20 Bluff View, which would allow the board to provide a parking lot for the museum.” In announcing the acquisition, Art Association President Mrs. States R. Finley acknowledged the vision and support of Benwood Foundation trustees Scott L. Probasco, chairman; DeSales Harrison; Sebert Brewer; and E.Y. Chapin, Jr.; and applauded the magnitude of the gift. “It will provide Chattanooga the finest art museum in the South.”
The George Thomas Hunter house, now to be identified as the Hunter Museum of Art, was distinguished by its expansive rooms, wide hallways and unusually high ceilings. These features, with some remodeling, would provide the ideal setting for art galleries, traveling arts exhibition halls and meeting rooms for the arts community, and in a special nod to the future, for area junior and high school arts programs. Its location high on a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River and the countryside beyond evoked the beauty that nature and art add to individual lives.
Officers and directors of the Chattanooga Art Association issued a joint statement of acceptance of the Hunter home as a gift and encouraged community leaders to consider donating or purchasing memorable works of art for the new museum. The CAA leadership team included Mrs. States R. Finley, president; Mrs. J.L. Hutchinson Sr., first vice-president; Mrs. Alfred Thatcher, second vice-president; Mary G. Bright, third vice-president; Isobel Griscom, secretary; and Ruth Perry, treasurer. Dr. David A. Lockmiller, Mrs. Sam H. Campbell, Dr. Lee Jensen, S.R. Finley, Margaret McCallie, Mrs. Abraham Feinstein and Mrs. J.R. Hedges served as board directors. Mrs. Hedges, past president, said that the gift allowed “a dream held by members … for more than 23 years to become a reality.”
Two years earlier, the association had joined with the University of Chattanooga to secure temporary space for shows, and that relationship remained in place until the Hunter was available. During the two years prior to the gift, the CAA had first used gallery space on the second floor of the administration building until an increase in student enrollment required that space for classrooms and lecture halls. The university then remodeled the former Science building into a “spacious hall … and equipped it as a beautiful gallery,” supporting both UC’s arts program and community arts.