Chattanooga’s visual arts festival returns to the First Tennessee Pavilion April 10-12. Recognized by the New York Times, the 4 Bridges Arts Festival invites guests to a weekend of "exceptional fine art and craft, local food, children’s art activities and entertainment."
Artists from across the county apply for the juried show because they know the atmosphere draws a mix of buyers and patrons, families and friends. This event will feature 140 of the nation’s artists exhibiting painting, glasswork, jewelry, textiles, photography, sculpture and more. This year’s jurors are Katie Delmez, curator at the Frist Center for Visual Arts; Bill May, executive director at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and Peggy Wood Townsend, director of Public Art Chattanooga.
Ms. Delmez has been a curator at the Frist Center since 2001. She has organized several monographic exhibitions including a major retrospective on photographer Carrie Mae Weems which traveled across the country. She has also directed the presentation of over 30 traveling exhibitions at the Frist Center. Mr. May was hired as the fifth executive director of Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in June of 2011. As executive director of Arrowmont, Mr. May oversees school operations, programming, and development. He recently led an $8 million fundraising effort making it possible for the school to purchase its historic campus. Ms. Wood Townsend currently serves as part-time director of Public Art Chattanooga, a division of the Department of Economic and Community Development for the city of Chattanooga as well as co-owner of Townsend Atelier, a visual art school located in Chattanooga. She manages public art efforts including organizing and administering a series of community-wide visioning workshops and city art installations.
The Festival begins with a Preview Party Friday evening. Festival tickets are $7 for a single day ticket and $10 for two-day passes. Preview Party tickets are $75. Festival and Preview Party tickets may be purchased online at www.4bridgesartsfestival.org or at the door. Preview Party hours are 6:30-19 p.m. Festival hours, on Saturday are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, please visit www.4bridgesartsfestival.org.