By Cara McGowan
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The Hunter’s summer exhibition, William J. Glackens and Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Affinities and Distinctions, opens June 22 and will present more than 20 works by each artist as it explores the influence of Renoir on Glackens’ artistic development, showcasing an array of gorgeous, color-soaked landscapes, figurative works, still lifes and more. The Hunter is the second and final venue for this unique show, so you’ll want to make plans to come - and invite your friends! This beautiful exhibition is not to be missed!

Most people are familiar with French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, but many might know less about William Glackens. Born in Philadelphia in 1870, Glackens was exposed to art at an early age and began his career as a newspaper illustrator. He quickly transitioned to painting and became a founding member of “The Eight,” a group of artists who presented several groundbreaking exhibitions in New York between 1908 and 1917 after their paintings were rejected by the art establishment. These artists, who became known as the “Ashcan School,” often chose more gritty, urban scenes and painted in a style that was more abstract than conventions of the time allowed. Glackens’ early work often exhibited these qualities. However, viewing the modern works of French Impressionists - in particular Renoir - during trips to Europe and from the collection of longtime friend and influential art collector Albert Barnes helped reshape his artistic vision.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to examine how Renoir’s vibrant color palette and brushstroke technique, among other things, influenced Glackens’ artistic style. In fact, this influence caused some to dub him “the American Renoir.” His response? “Can you think of a better man to follow than Renoir?”

According to Natalie Mault Mead, associate curator at the Hunter, artists finding inspiration in the artwork of their peers and predecessors is a long-standing tradition. In fact, Renoir is also cited as influencing Matisse, Picasso, and other artists whose styles differed vastly from his own. Like those artists, Glackens took inspiration from Renoir and used it to forge his own artistic identity.

“I think Glackens was inspired by Renoir, but wasn’t trying to copy him,” Mead said. “He saw what Renoir was doing and why, and that’s what spoke to Glackens. He was trying to create a modernist style that was uniquely American.”  The Soda Fountain (1935), the last major work Glackens ever completed, embodies this idea. The style and subject matter perfectly capture the American vibrancy and culture of the time, moving away from the very formal quality of traditional art prior to this time.

William J. Glackens and Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Affinities and Distinctions will be on view at the Hunter June 22 through September 22. General admission to the exhibition is $20, and is free to members and youth 17 and under. For more information about membership, please call (423) 752-2045.

William J. Glackens and Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Affinities and Distinctions, organized by NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale and curated by Barbara Buhler Lynes, Ph.D., Sunny Kaufman Senior Curator, is generously sponsored by The Sansom Foundation, Kolter Hospitality/Hyatt Centric and 100 Las Olas, and David and Francie Horvitz Family Foundation, and presented in Chattanooga by Sanofi with support from Elliott Davis and the SunTrust Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau.

By Gwin Tugman

Café 7, Rock City’s upscale outdoor restaurant, has always welcomed pets, as does Rock City itself, but there is a really cute, new pet menu that features clever names like Grrrrrilled Cluck Cluck, Two Hot Dawgs, and Tricks for Treats Bacon, each for $5. Puppuccino is only $3, but bowls of fresh water are always free. With a designated area near the bar for pets and their owners, both humans and their best friends can relax and enjoy!

Because Rock City is pet-friendly, the staff has seen its share of unusual pets, which come through regularly. The only stipulation is that pets must be on a leash. Rock City employees have visited with guests that slither, climb and hop through the Enchanted Trail, including baby goats in pajamas, bunnies, pigs, a snake, a small monkey, a rooster, and a parrot dressed in a tux to celebrate its birthday during Shamrock City. (No, you can’t make this kind of stuff up!)

Café 7 overlooks Lover’s Leap and is quite beautiful, as well as very relaxing, and it offers all sorts of entrées, including beef brisket tacos, barbecue, fried green tomato BLT, fried chicken and sweet potato waffles, shrimp and grits, and several salads, plus a kids’ menu. Everything is very reasonably priced. Café 7 also serves beer and wine, plus a variety of soft drinks.

Local folks always want to know if mountain residents can enter Rock City and enjoy the restaurants without paying admission. The answer is no, but residents can get a resident’s pass after paying the price of a one-day admission, and the pass is good for a lifetime! It needs to be renewed every three years, which is a very simple process. There are a few restrictions on the resident pass, but it mainly allows residents to enjoy all that Rock City offers year-round.

Besides the Café 7, Rock City also offers the Big Rock Grill, which is near the entrance to Rock City and features more casual dining with a variety of menu items, including breakfast to-go during the morning hours on the weekends. Rock City also boasts a snack shop that offers pizza and other concession items, so it would be hard not to find something to enjoy!

The Café 7 is open in the summer from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the weekends.  If you don’t have a resident pass or know someone who doesn’t, this  would make a great birthday or Christmas present - the gift that gives on giving!
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In my 50-plus years living on Signal, I’m always surprised by the number of neighbors yet to discover our hidden jewel nestled in Walden’s woods. Dappled in sunlight among towering hemlocks and 100-year-old white oaks, the Little Brown Church has been warmly welcoming locals and visitors from around the world for summer services for the past 111 years.

Not publicized or marketed, it’s a bit like happening upon an unexpected treasure. The decades-old pea gravel under my truck’s tire and the century-old familiar squeak of the worn hardwoods remind me how exceptional the Little Brown Church is: a simple place of worship with the gentlest of improvements over time.

If you’re nearby on a Sunday morning between Memorial and Labor Day, you’ll see horses, golf carts, bicycles, and Jeeps parked out front. You’ll feel at home whether you get a seat inside or a bench on the porch. Among giggling children in seersucker, parents in shorts with coffee mugs from home, and family dogs roaming freely, you’ll hear a piano that sounds like an old Western movie playing hymns you haven’t sung in years. You’ll likely be invited to stay after for a watermelon cutting or “lunch on the grounds.” And you’ll wonder how it got started and why it still thrives.

My family, just four generations on Signal and, therefore, “new-comers,” visited with two beloved families who have lived the history of The Little Brown Church. We couldn’t help but share the wealth of their iconic Signal Stories and this unique inter-denominational community born out of love...and necessity.

Catherine O’Kelley Fore, (b. 1980), six generations Little Brown Church
“The Little Brown Church started around the turn of the 20th century. At that time there was a big colony of summer residents with homes on Signal Mountain in an area of Walden we still call Summertown. Chattanoogans came up to Signal to escape the heat, yellow fever and cholera. It was at least a five-hour round trip up and down the mountain via horse-and-buggy or hack [horse-drawn wagon with bench-style perimeter seating for multiple people]. Because of that, folks were unable to make it down to the city for weekly church services.”

Rachel Divine Sharp Decosimo, (b. 1926), six generations Little Brown Church
“The church started on my grandmother’s front porch in Summertown as a Sunday school for the children of the summer residents. This was a way that Summertown residents could worship the Lord together. After my grandmother’s porch got too full, they realized they needed a building. So, in 1908, local men raised the money and handled the construction of a Swedish barn design. I’ve always wondered how they knew anything about Sweden way back on Signal Mountain!

“I started going to the Little Brown Church when I was 5 years old. I’m 91 right now, so you do the math. It was the highlight of our summer as children! All the children got to be barefooted at church because, on May 1, you took your shoes off and didn’t put them back on until school started in the fall. We loved being with each other and our wonderful Sunday School teachers!”

Catherine O’Kelley Fore:
“My great-great grandparents were a part of the Little Brown Church in its earliest days. They had a home in Summertown where my family still spends many happy summer days. My great grandfather was the church’s superintendent in 1958-59, and I served in that same role in 2018, so it’s been very meaningful.
“One of the highlights of the weekly services for me are the hymns. Growing up, I remember singing ‘Old Rugged Cross,’ ‘Beulah Land’ and ‘In the Garden.’ Now my children are singing those same hymns. It’s special to carry on that tradition.

“We close each service with all the children coming up front to ring the old bell, just as I -and generations of children before me - did. The ringing accompanies the adults singing our theme song ‘Little Brown Church in the Wildwood,’ with verses customized for our church in 1932 by Summertown resident R.H. Williams.”

Rachel Decosimo:
“The purpose of the Little Brown Church is that people will learn about God and Jesus Christ. We have never had our own preacher. We invite different teachers and leaders to come up from the Chattanooga area to speak to us each week. It’s very important that they teach clearly and stay right on track.” [“...and right on time” her son Fred Decosimo jokes, “preach Jesus and do it in 20 minutes.”]

“We have so many visitors,” Mrs. Decosimo says. “It’s a wonderful outreach to people who may not go to church regularly, but feel comfortable here. You know, even though we lovingly call it ‘Little Brown Church’, its official name is Union Chapel because all are welcome here, regardless of denomination. I remember, one of the brothers of Adolph Ochs’, a Jewish Summertown resident, [publisher of Chattanooga’s Times Free Press and owner of The New York Times] was one of our first treasurers.

“There’s just something here that draws people. I feel it. My great, great grandchildren feel it. We’re drawn to this place. It’s real. As real as it gets, thanks to generations of these and many welcoming Signal Mountain families who have gathered to worship together through World Wars, epidemics, and moon landings. When it comes to a sense of peace, community, and a true Word from God - the things everyone is searching for - when you come to the Little Brown Church, you find it.

The fourth annual River City Sessions at Lula Lake is your No. 1 destination for a unique twilight concert at Lula Lake Land Trust’s core preserve. Enjoy over eight miles of trails and live performances by Rising Fawn Social Club, Katrina Barclay, Michael Gray, and Suck Creek String Band.
 
Gates open at 4:30 p.m., and guests are welcome to hike and explore the trails before the event. Enjoy “busking by the lake” with Suck Creek String Band as you hike and relax by Lula Lake. Music by the lake will start at approximately 5:30 p.m.
 
After your hike, make your way back to the meadow for the main show. Beginning at 7 p.m., Katrina Barclay will take the stage, followed by a storytelling performance by Michael Gray and Star Line Books. Rising Fawn Social Club will close the show.
 
Guitar Center will give away a Fender FA 135 CE acoustic electric guitar, and every $10 donated enters you in for a chance to win! Elley Communications will give away four gift cards to Star Line Books, Chattanooga's only independent bookstore.
 
Beer, wine, soda, and water will be available. Lupi’s pizza pies, Clumpie’s ice cream, and Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint will be on site with food. No outside food or drink is permitted (except for water). Proceeds benefit Lula Lake Land Trust in its mission of conservation, education, and low-impact recreation. 

When you support Lula Lake Land Trust, you're supporting nearly 12,000 acres of conservation.
 
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the event. 

Tickets can be purchased online at http://bit.ly/2019rcsatlula.

By Michelle Workman

Truly a celebration of our unique and close-knit community, the Fourth of July parade captures the charm and delight people feel about living on Lookout. The annual parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 4, at Lookout Mountain, Ga., City Hall and end at the Commons, where everyone will enjoy food trucks, music, and lots of fun prizes for the best-decorated vehicles in several classes.  

This parade will consist of fire trucks, a mayoral convertible, children on decorated bikes, Veterans, DAR members, decorated golf carts, homemade floats, business floats, motorcycles, classic cars and all sorts of other vehicles, as well as folks on foot, skates or unicycles. There are no limits! We encourage everyone to be creatively patriotic.
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We are looking for community members to actively participate. Vets and members of the DAR are requested to walk or ride in the parade. We are also looking for children who would like to ride their bikes in the parade, as well as people who want to decorate and drive their golf carts in the parade. Musicians are needed to perform on floats or play for the post-parade gathering at the Commons. Look for updated details at the Lookout Mountain Mirror’s website, mountainmirror.com, and on posters around the mountain. Remember the success of this event depends on everyone’s participation.