All photography provided by In Orbit Productions
Since 2016, we've collaborated with several local arts organizations, created more opportunities for local creatives, and brought nationally recognized artists to help grow and foster the creative community of Chattanooga.
It's always been our mission to broaden and expand the arts through exhibitions, education, and community outreach. What began as a lofty idea has become a social sculpture with a multi-faceted network of resources for visiting artists and the local community, encouraging shared experiences and reciprocal collaboration & growth among creatives.
CO-FOUNDERS
ARC was collaboratively conceived by Aaron Cowan & Adam Kirby in 2015; They both continue to work with local arts organizations including the Chattanooga Film Festival, Scenic City Clay Arts, Take Art Leave Art, Shapeshifter, Frequency Arts,The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, First Draft Theater, Mineral House Media, the Chattanooga Comix Co-op, the Association for Visual Arts, and others. Through this and other efforts they are working to grow Chattanooga into an arts destination and cultural hub.
Aaron Cowan - Director
Aaron is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Chattanooga, TN. He received his BFA in 3D Sculpture from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and works primarily in the expanded field of sculpture, including video, installation, and performance. His fervor for facilitating the arts was born out of a lack of local opportunities for artists, collaboratively leading to gallery/project spaces such as the Swine Gallery in 2016. You can find more info about his work and practice at his website.
Adam Kirby
Adam has a B.F.A from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, with studies in sculpture and ceramics. Adam is actively invested in his community through his art and ability to help others thrive. He heped create LIT Gallery, a space that brings more art venues to Chattanooga for exploration, exciting exhibitions and a place to call home for contemporary and daring artists looking for space to have their work shown. He currently serves as the Director of Operations for Scenic City Clay Arts. More about his current body of work and achievements can be found here.
What We've Achieved
2016-2017
- Ryder Richards Featured Artist in Residence 2016
- Local Artists Booth at the 2017 Chattanooga Film Festival
- Jeff Niesen Mural Mini-Residency
- Awarded Community Cultural Connections Grant from ArtsBuild 2016
- Dana Lynn Harper Featured Artist in Residence 2017
- Second Mural Mini-Residency
- Awarded partial grant from UNFoundation 2017
2018
- Selected our Spring Featured Artist in Residence
- Planning for 4 Featured Artists in Residence
- Developing new residencies, short-term and local
- Featured 4 local artists and 1 national artist for exhibition at the Chattanooga Film Festival 2018
- Celebrating our 2 year anniversary with 3 artists in residence for Summer!
- Launched the Short Term Artist Residency (STAR) program
