By Mary Kate Sheppard, Staff Writer—
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Fine Arts Center and the Cress Gallery were displaced for several years due to renovation, but that changed in 2021 with the opening of the new Institute of Contemporary Art on campus.
The Cress Gallery has called the UTC campus its home for a while now, providing a place for students to display the products of their artistic talent. However, starting this year, UTC is adding another place to display and appreciate that art in the form of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA).
The ICA is the first of its kind in the state, and is headed up by the UTC Art Department and Rachel Reese, who acts as the director and curator for the institute.
“Opening the ICA is an opportunity to stake a claim here in Chattanooga,” Reese said. “We had an opportunity to create an institution that includes Cress Gallery and reaches out into the community as well.”
Reese also mentioned that the ICA has plans to work with other community and state groups to make an art presence in Chattanooga.
The ICA is currently hosting its inaugural exhibition entitled “Home.”
This exhibition highlights 12 artists who all have direct connections to Chattanooga. Some are group shows while others are personal ventures, but all the pieces relate to the Chattanooga community.
The 12 featured artists include Jeff Whetstone, Reed Schick, Dylan Pew, Andrew O’brien, Raquel Mullins, Tane Hopper, Lenka Clayton, Philip Andrew Lewis, Amanda Brazier, Marc Boyson, Mark Bennett and the Glass House Collective.
The “Home” exhibition is not limited to the Chattanooga area that all these artists call home. The various artists interpreted the word “home” in different ways, from the physical place, to the people that make Chattanooga home, to what home means to them and to how Covid-19 has altered that idea of home.
This is just the inaugural exhibition. The ICA has many more shows and events planned for 2021 and the coming years. The next planned show begins March 1 and will showcase student art.
“The future of ICA is exciting to think about,” Reese said “I’m ready to start working with other departments and students on campus as well as other community programs. I believe we can build a presence for contemporary artists.”
The Institute of Contemporary Art is located at 725 Vine St. in UTC’s Fine Arts Center and is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on weekends from noon to 4 p.m. Attendance is free.
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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UTC Painting & Drawing junior, Grace Wright, sits and looks at Reed Schick’s portraits of families in their homes. Wright is one of three student gallery ambassadors in the new Institute of Contemporary Art in UTC’s Fine Arts Center. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Elizabeth O’Guin)
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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UTC senior Lauren Nichols stands in front of Marc Boyson’s large-scale mural, which was done on the wall of UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art. The gallery finished renovations along with the rest of the Fine Arts Center at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, so this is the inaugural show for the ICA. Thursday, January 4, 2021. (Photo by Elizabeth O’Guin)
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UTC seniors Yves Tucker (left) and Lauren Nichols (right) look down at Nichols’ phone while standing in front of Jeff Whetstone’s artwork in UTC’s new Institute of Contemporary Art. The gallery finished renovations along with the rest of the Fine Arts Center at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, so this is the inaugural show for the ICA. Thursday, January 4, 2021. (Photo by Elizabeth O’Guin)
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A collection of gifted rocks, the work of Dylan Pew, is on view on the floor of UTC’s new Institute of Contemporary Art, with Tanè Hopper’s work displayed on the wall behind. The gallery finished renovations along with the rest of the Fine Arts Center at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, so this is the inaugural show for the ICA. Thursday, January 4, 2021. (Photo by Elizabeth O’Guin)
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UTC freshman Tred Hill, an incoming Graphic Design major, works at the desk of UTC’s new Institute of Contemporary Art as a student gallery ambassador. The gallery finished renovations along with the rest of the Fine Arts Center at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, so this is the inaugural show for the ICA. Thursday, January 4, 2021. (Photo by Elizabeth O’Guin)
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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UTC Painting & Drawing junior and gallery sitter, Grace Wright, sits at the front desk of the the newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)
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The newly created Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center features work from 12 artists in its inaugural exhibition, “Home”. UTC’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first to exist in the state and was created in hopes of opening its doors to not only the campus, but the community. Thursday, February 4, 2021. (Photo by Stephanie Swart)