'Nothing is permanent': Chattanooga’s evolving public art landscape
With nearly 100 outdoor pieces, Chattanooga's public art collection invites reflection across the city. But sometimes, even the most beloved pieces reach the end of their lifespan.
Graphic/Ian-Alijah Bey
By William Newlin
Public art has formed a central part of Chattanooga’s identity for decades. When the Tennessee Aquarium opened in 1992, the art-filled Aquarium Plaza with its pedestrian-scale arch became an anchor of downtown Chattanooga.
In the 30 years since, the City of Chattanooga has grown its collection to 86 outdoor and 100 indoor artworks. While new pieces may feel unfamiliar to the landscape at first — take the blue rhino at Coolidge Park (Blue Boy Pull Toy #1) or the Ed Johnson Memorial at Walnut Street Bridge — they slowly become iconic to Chattanooga.
But what happens when those icons are struck by lighting, bent by strong winds, or become broken, leaky, or defaced?
That's what we asked the Public Art Chattanooga staff and community members who help select new public art in Chattanooga. They’re the same folks who make difficult decisions about maintaining, repairing, and in some cases, removing, the art that’s already in our collection.
In need of repair
Austin Center, Chattanooga’s public art collection specialist, has identified 65 needed repairs across the city’s art stock. There’s around $36,000 remaining in the current maintenance budget, and Center estimates each of the 65 repairs cost anywhere from $300 to $30,000.
When a piece needs a pricey restoration, Center first contacts the artist. They try to find a cost-effective remedy — maybe removing a damaged component or changing the design. But that doesn’t always work, especially for some longtime outdoor pieces worn by weather.
"Nothing is permanent, and there's materials that were used in the past and things that were used in the past that you just can't recreate,” Center said. “It gets so cost prohibitive that you have to find an alternate solution."
Sometimes the only solution is removal, which is called deaccession in the art world.
Lights out on Ross's Landing
The most recent high profile deaccession decision was for the Luminous Light Masts on the Chattanooga Pier at Ross’s Landing.
Created by renowned artist James Carpenter in 2005 amid the city’s 21st Century Waterfront Project, the stainless steel pillars have experienced structural issues for over a decade. A review by city engineers showed the installation didn’t meet current wind codes.
Redesigning and re-fabricating the most troublesome mast, which the city had already removed due to safety concerns, would cost over $200,000. It would be another $75,000 to $90,000 each to fix two others in disrepair, said Carmen Davis, head of Public Art Chattanooga.
"And so Austin (Center), who's sort of in charge of the collection, will bring forward plan A, B, and C,” Public Art Commission member Angie To said of removal decisions, including Luminous. “We sit there to ask questions and debate, you know, what's the most logical way of proceeding?”
In the case of the light masts, the art commission decided removal was the most prudent option. City Council confirmed the decision on Nov. 14.
Luminous Light Masts is the latest of several pieces approved for removal in the last couple of years.
Heavy metal, an interactive music display below Walnut Bridge in Coolidge Park, went down in February. Chattanooga Music Man, the red, fiddle-playing figure on Frazier Avenue followed in May. And Budding Pipes, a colorful sculpture on the Riverwalk, is set for removal soon. Davis said all of them were “in such disrepair, it just made sense. It was no saving them.”
"Just because something comes off line and has to be removed, it doesn't mean that we're forever going to move away from that part of town," Davis said. "Making sure that art is accessible to our entire community is very important to us."
Unsurprisingly, Davis prefers to add — not remove — public art. Despite recent deaccessions, she said Chattanooga will end up net positive in terms of new art installations, with six new projects wrapping up in 2023.
How public art happens
Behind the scenes, city staffers and community members develop potential projects and decide what to install. Public Art Chattanooga, nestled within the Parks & Outdoors Department, manages the city’s collection with guidance from the citizen-led public art commission.
After meeting with local artists and residents to understand the artistic goals of a community, Public Art Chattanooga sends out requests for project proposals. Artists can also submit mapped-out ideas for consideration at commission meetings every other month.
A panel of citizens, artists, Public Art Chattanooga staff, and a commission representative review submissions and recommend projects for final commission approval.
“The service that we provide to the citizens of Chattanooga and to the city is to make sure that everybody understands that these decisions are objective,” To said. “They're not based on favoritism or politics in any way.”
To said she’s excited about a planned reimagining of the space below the railroad bridge crossing over E. M.L.K. Boulevard. The project envisions a moving LED light display on one of the walls supporting the bridge and a new mural on the other.
Lengthy discussions with the railroad owner have delayed the process, but To said it could become a reality by the end of 2025. In the public art world, two to three years for planning and installation is not uncommon.
The project’s partnership with the M.L.K. Neighborhood Association highlights how Public Art Chattanooga and the commission make decisions.
“There is a huge push and dedication to bringing in stakeholders so that art is not just sort of plopped somewhere,” To said. “And that it is something that the community wants and that they're interested in.”