Parade – Glass House Collective

Cold Hands & Warm Hearts: Glass St. LIVE

Tara Poole — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 18:57:51 +0000

We seem to be in a cycle of either sweating or shivering during neighborhood events, but despite the cold for Glass Street LIVE 2017, the community huddled together to sip hot chocolate and enjoy fresh BBQ at Ms. Tee’s, or warming up and socializing at the impromptu fire pit. Right away, some party goers got warmed-up by moving to the music at the main stage, starting with local neighbors, 2 Deep Within. Others, like our neighbor Gail Mitchell McKeel found ways to warm up by actively painting crosswalks at the Dodson Ave. and Glass St. intersection with artist Matt Dutton, who stenciled Hardy Elementary’s eagle mascot with temporary paint after Gail and local kids, Shemari, Zoreyah, Zareyah and Jordan rolled out the purple colors in temporary corn starch paint.

After weeks of hard work, it was exciting to Grow Hope Urban Farms’ mobile farm stand used according to its design: to increase fresh food options along with use by local vendors like Tina from Ashanti’s hair designs who used one of the tables to sell her famous lemonade. Non-profit partners lined their booths along Crutchfield Ave. between Ms. Tee’s BBQ and the Sunnytown lot, so neighbors could easily access popular interactive stations like the giant chess game from the Chattanooga Public Library, low-voltage bulb-tester displays from green|spaces Empower, and handprints or personalized messages on the beams for Habitat for Humanity homes in the neighborhood.

Over 60 local residents spent time sharing their input about changes they want to prioritize for intersection improvements at the Glass House Collective booth with special large format representations of the intersection area where participants could place stickers that represent where they would prioritize benches, lighting, or tree wells to help make the intersection cleaner, safer, and more inviting to foot traffic and neighborly mingling. Parents were often occupied discussing the streets and sidewalks, or engaging in artistic impressions with the 800 Project artists or with Andrew Mollenkof from Build Me A World. So the kids either stayed entertained with a larger than life JENGA set built by Matt Dutton from large cardboard boxes or got their wiggles out in the inflatable bounce house.

Local artists transformed the Alabama Furniture building into a pop-up gallery space, featuring original work by a group of young (mainly UTC student) artists calling themselves Art Trap Collective. Many partygoers fell under the calming spell of the music combined with dreamscape paintings or photography. Near the large picture windows facing Dodson Ave., Leo Ascarate or Our Luck printers set up a shirt screen-printing station which was a huge hit with kids and adults alike. Meanwhile, the main stage hosted some of the areas finest musical performers like YKC Nation, a dance-off with Image and Skream, Differentdiva, DJ D-Whit, Kay B Brown, and emceed by C-Grimey.

Skaters were invited to try test their skills on the rails and jumps set up in the street, and until it got too cold for their engines, DJ LV had his crew out to show their classic cars, trucks, and bikes. Near the music stage, Boyce Station Neighborhood Association greeted guests and party-goers and proudly displayed their brand new sign. Nearby, friends of all ages, sizes, and colors, warmed up by gathering with Manny Strickland on his converted lounge bus called The Midnight Puff. The Friend Up parties organized by Eddie Yancey and Mary Helen Montgomery are all about getting friends together with a range of cultural backgrounds, and their goals were well aligned with the variety of diverse friends gathered Sunday in the spirit of friendship and common good. That bond was celebrated in the colorful community parade, which may have lacked volume without the drum beats we had hoped for, but still included cheers for our neighbors and partners, and bright hand-welded art bikes from Art 120 made last summer at the East Chatt YFD.

For the grand finale of the party, dancers took center stage after they wrapped up the end of the parade, with a contest that included some of the Zy’Mori Studios dancers along with local kids– with music from DJ D-Whit. Overall, the intersection looked great packed with people and energy, and lined temporary trees installed in specially built planter boxes made by Shawnquell, Christian, and Amari, with Rondell Crier’s guidance, at Studio Everything.

We’re so grateful to Shannon Burke of City Celebration for collaborating on this event, and a big thank you to our 2017 Glass Street LIVE sponsors: CHI Memorial, Tennessee Arts Commission, Pinnacle Bank, Office Furniture Warehouse, EPB of Chattanooga, The Mark Hite Team | Keller Williams Realty Downtown Chattanooga, Coca-Cola United, and Whitney Drayer. And to the whole collective of dedicated, creative, and ingenious partners who make events like Glass Street LIVE possible, even in the blustery cold! We’re proud to join you!
Enjoy this beautiful footage by Make Beautiful capturing the joy of the day!



Glass Street LIVE Moved to Oct. 29th!
Tara Poole — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 16:51:14 +0000
Due to heavy rain from Tropical Storm Nate, Glass Street LIVE has been officially POSTPONED until Sunday, October 29th from 3-6pm. Meanwhile, please stay in touch here, by signing up for our email list, and on Facebook about what exciting details we can still expect during our Fourth Annual Glass Street LIVE block party. Remember to let friends and family know it has not been cancelled, just moved! This year’s site at the Dodson Ave. intersection, and activities will showcase dozens of local non-profits partnering to improve the quality of life in Chattanooga. Many of those partners will join together at 5:30 for a colorful, musical community parade from East Chatt YFD Center and goes to Hardy Elementary, featuring Art 120 Art Bikes, Wayne-O-Rama Puppets, high school marching bands, dance groups, and local businesses and neighbors.

We’re setting up a live music stage set up in front of the former Sunnytown grocery store, where entertainment will be emceed by C-Grimey, featuring performances by Kay B Brown, Differentdiva, Nerd Squad, 2 Deep Within, YKC Nation, Bindy B, Image and Skream, and DJ D-Whit, and featuring guest emcee, District 8 City Councilman, Anthony Byrd. Visitors will also enjoy a classic car, truck, and bike show presented by DJ LV, and can purchase delicious local food vendors, non-profit activity booths, and merchant vendors.

We’re incredibly excited to celebrate the debut of two new community resource features: a local fresh food farm stand by Grow Hope Urban Farm, presented by Hope for the Inner City, and the dedication of Boyce Station Neighborhood Association’s new sign.

We will unveil temporary crosswalk installations that are colorful, safe, and can be as effective in attracting permanent design improvements as these same tactics were implemented 4 years ago at the Chamberlain Ave. and Glass Street intersection. Design selection and painting will be coordinated through a neighboring arts organization, Mark Making, employing local youth to install the beautiful and functional work of public art.

The community can also share feedback and ideas with Glass House Collective, interacting with models they would like to see as practical improvements for the expanse of concrete currently covering the Dodson/Glass intersection. Later, they’re invited to relax and mingle on the Hip-Hop Lounge bus with Mary Helen Montgomery and Eddie Yancey inviting “Friend Up,” opportunities for the art of meaningful mingling.  And no one will want to miss the pop-up art gallery featuring Art Trap Collective and the pop-up skate park presented by Kim Krause, Westin Dawson, and the Black Rebel skaters at the former Alabama Furniture building, (2200 Glass St.).

Glass House Collective is collaborating with Boyce Station Neighborhood Association, recent winners of the Songbirds Museum Block and Roll grant, and Shannon Burke of Bike Walk Tennessee to host the final neighborhood block party of City Celebration, a city-wide festival focused on alternative transportation methods like biking, skating, and walking.
We’re winding up our registration process for official event volunteers and participants! If you’d like to sign up, fill out our online form here. Thanks!
Thank you to our amazing event sponsors: Pinnacle Bank, Memorial Hospital, EPB Fiber Optics, Coca Cola United, Tennessee Arts Commission, and the Tenesha Irvin Show!
 



All Together for Glass Street LIVE!
Tara Poole — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 15:41:31 +0000
2017 Glass Street LIVE is our 4th annual block party event on Sunday afternoon October 8, with a brand newsite at the Dodson Ave intersection, asking how it can evolve according to various neighbors’ ideas and priorities. Glass House Collective is collaborating with Boyce Station Neighborhood Association and Shannon Burke of Bike Walk Tennessee to host the final neighborhood block party of City Celebration, a city-wide festival focused on alternative transportation methods like biking, skating, and walking.

Come enjoy the grand finale of the day, where the Glass Farm neighborhood meets the Boyce Station and Avondale neighborhoods, at the intersection of Dodson Avenue and Glass Street! Our neighbors want to see change and improvements there, and together we can test and demonstrate ways to make this busy link between Hardy Elementary School and the East Chatt YFD Center safer and more welcoming for the families using these resources daily!

We will have a community parade, live music, local food vendors (including some of the best BBQ anywhere in Chattanooga!), a pop-up farm stand, dance competitions, and a chance to participate in temporary crosswalk installations that are colorful, safe, and we believe can be as effective in attracting permanent design improvements as these same tactics were when we started work with Better Block at the Chamberlain Ave. and Glass Street intersection 4 years ago! Catch the spirit of Glass Street LIVE by watching last year’s video on our YouTube Channel!
Want to get involved? Please fill out our Online Interest Form! 
We’re excited to include lots of community vendors, information booths, and VOLUNTEERS! Food vendors are being carefully curated to prioritize sales for local eateries.
Interested in showcasing your business as an official Glass Street LIVE sponsor? Find details on our website’s Sponsorship Page!
Let friends know about our party by sharing our Facebook Event Page!
See you in October!



Glass Street on Main Street!
Tara Poole — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 19:44:30 +0000
We were honored and excited when Jennifer Crutchfield invited youth from Glass Street to participate in this year’s Mainx24 parade with the Wayne-O-Rama float! Building on the momentum from getting kids involved in our Glass Street LIVE parade, the popular Main Street event on Chattanooga’s Southside felt like a natural next move in the fun, rolicking dance. Michael McCamish carefully protected and re-distributed the folk art puppets created together with Colleen Laliberte and Glass Street kids last September.

Spreading the bright puppets out along the parade float made it already feel like a celebration on the cold December morning. All that was missing were the kids to bring the shapes to life, waving and dancing to the jazz music pumped out at the front of our procession.  Everyone agreed that the presence of the Glass Street kids carrying the large waving puppets alongside and aboard the float brought out the true artistic spirit Wayne White channels as he develops playful, often irreverent renderings of historical events and figures out of cardboard, wood, fabric, and paint.

Nikki Lewis and Ryan Keller recruited 17 youth to carpool from Glass Street early Saturday morning December 3rd, to kick off the morning at the pancake breakfast at the Main Street Fire Hall. That’s where the kids snapped a photo with Mayor Andy Berke and played on the row of Chattanooga Bikes.


 
The group gathered for the parade kick off at Jefferson Park, then proceeded over to Main Street, waving, dancing, and throwing candy to the hundreds of spectators. Block Leaders Janette Richie and Glenda Welcher each carried puppet hands to wave along the route, and enjoyed the experience thoroughly.

Following the parade, kids helped carry their puppets back to storage, and had a few minutes to admire Wayne’s giant sculpture of Lookout Mountain before heading next door for fruit and biscuits at The Well, as part of the local Southside church’s courtesy breakfast tradition for Mainx24 parade participants.