If you've driven down Glass Street in the last year or so, it probably looks a lot different than you remember.
There are public art installations, a new community space and more streetlights. Those new additions are largely the work of Glass House, a neighborhood collective dedicated to bringing positive change to the area.
Next up for the group is aiding in the implementation of three $30,000 grants to local artists. The grant funding came from The Educational Foundation of America and will be fully implemented over the course of this year.
"Knowing that creatives can lend a certain sense of place to an overlooked neighborhood, we're committed to working with individual artists and neighbors to revitalize this critical part of our great city," said Glass House spokeswoman Teal Thibaud.
With his grant, local artist Rondell Crier, who has aided in other Glass House initiatives, will create The Creative Resource Studio. It will include a space for art-making, consultation, craft workshops, skill building programming for youth and a conceptual art installation that fosters dialogue about the loss of life in the community.
Eric "Seven" Finley will use one of the other grants to create the Urban Artformz Institute. When not being used as a space for instructional workshops in spoken word poetry, urban street dance, street art and fine art, the space will also serve the community as a free internet café.
Classes in cultural dances, yoga, creative movement, tap, jazz, ballet, musical theater and percussion music will also be on offer to the community through Rebekah Mawuko's grant-funded project Moving Forward Into the 21st Century. Her space will also be available for master classes, community performances, lectures and demonstrations.
"Temporary art experiences such as Better Block, a national model, and the Rise Up Chattanooga ladder sculpture are examples of how a community can come together with creativity at the core," said Thibaud. "These experiences are as surprising as they are enriching. They animate the district in new ways, bring more people to the street, create new relationships with neighbors and give pride to the people who call this place home."
For more information about Glass House or to get involved, visit glasshousecollective.org.