Chattarati Articles in St. Elmo

Pasha Coffee & Tea: Suggestions Welcome

2011-07-06T09:00:00Z

At Pasha Coffee & Tea, listening to customers is a priority — and one of the secrets to the coffee shop’s success.

Matt Skudlarek, assistant store manager since 2010, is invested in making Pasha the best that it can be.

“I think an important part of being a business owner or manager is listening to what people say and their suggestions," he said. "Even if it’s one out of every five suggestions you use, if you have 25 suggestions and five of them are great, then that’s enough to think and build on.”

One of these suggestions was to expand the menu to include more sandwiches and food items. Sales increased by almost 200 percent.

Chattanooga is a city of coffee shops, mostly concentrated in the downtown area. But Pasha is the only one of its kind in the St. Elmo community, something which allows it to be uniquely involved in the neighborhood.

Works by local artists are in a constant rotation on the walls. It’s an often-played venue by musicians, and it collaborates with other local businesses to keep the community informed about events. Skudlarek knows many of the customers by name and spends time building relationships with them.

“That’s definitely the thing that’s bringing me around to my second year is the type of people and the friendships I’ve made and the people I’ve met,” he said.

Meghan Katzenberger, a student at Covenant and a facilities supervisor, is a regular customer. “I like Pasha because it’s a really friendly, personal place with a homey atmosphere,” she said.

Its coffee is another unique feature. “It’s all organic, all free-trade coffee. We do Turkish coffee, cold-press coffee," Skudlarek said. When you get in an industry like this that is honestly in an oversaturated market you have to make yourself stand out, make yourself be a destination place, and I think that’s done a lot by those products — but also by the staff — and the way the place is run.”

Or and Ladonna Cingilli started Pasha in February 2009 in order pursue their dream of a neighborhood coffehouse in St. Elmo. Located right on St. Elmo Avenue, it’s in a good place to be at the heart of the community.

Last month, the coffee shop was bought by Tag Thompson. Thompson hopes to keep the same atmosphere, just increase the flow of customers.

Skudlarek isn’t worried about any more serious changes taking place. “I see it evolving. I see it maintaining that atmosphere that makes it what it is, but I definitely see it growing,” he said.

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Youth Holding Center Planned for South Chattanooga

2011-03-30T18:15:00Z

Chattanooga officials plan to turn part of the South Chattanooga Recreation Center into a place where minors who are picked up for curfew violations can be taken and held while their guardians are being contacted. And the city hopes to have the facility ready by the end of next week, a spokesman for the mayor said Wednesday.

"It will be a safe place for underage kids to go while waiting on a guardian to pick them up," said Richard Beeland, media relations director for city hall. "It's not a magic bullet, but it's one more tool" for police officers to use when dealing with unaccompanied minors late at night.

The recreation center, located on 40th Street near St. Elmo and Alton Park, includes a currently vacant police precinct, which will be renovated for the project. Unaccompanied children and youth wandering the city late at night will be taken there by police in the event a parent or guardian can't be immediately reached, or if an officer is unable to escort them home.

The facility will initially be staffed by 3-7 employees — some sworn officers may be in the mix, but that will also include youth workers.

Plans for the facility have been on an on-again, off-again basis for some time, Beeland said. But the idea came back after a recent melee in Coolidge Park involving some 300 youth and shots fired two weekends ago. The incident, and a similar one almost a year ago, have sparked much discussion amongst officials and law enforcement about how to prevent future incidents involving teenagers throughout the city.

On Tuesday, the Chattanooga City Council passed a stricter curfew for Coolidge Park requiring minors to be accompanied by an adult between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. During deliberations, Mayor Ron Littlefield alluded to the plan to renovate part of the South Chattanooga center. The planned facility "is an ideal place to take children at any hour, because the recreation center's there. And we are quickly resurrecting that location," he told council members. “Passing this ordinance tonight is just a first step. Going back and looking at the curfew ordinances as they apply citywide is another step.”

Littlefield said the Coolidge Park curfew, along with other potential changes to the city's truancy laws and the South Chattanooga facility are part of a broader effort to curtail crime.

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Snow Scenes From St. Elmo

2011-01-11T08:00:00Z

Jose Ocando

Playground.

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Indoor snow.

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Mountain view.

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Laden magnolia.

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Laden juniper.

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Nature imitating art.

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Hieroglyphics.

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Frozen creek.

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Finlay Seagle Park.

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Make-shift weatherproof boots.

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Spiky leaves poking out from under the snow.

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St. Elmo’s 125th Anniversary Holiday Guide

2010-12-07T15:00:00Z

If you haven't got a BlackBerry like me, keeping track of all the holiday happenings can get a little hairy. Especially this year when it seems like a lot of new and interesting goings-on are, well, going on.

This year, in celebration of St. Elmo's 125th anniversary, residents, merchants and the hardworking Community Association of Historic St. Elmo board are collaborating in an all-day series of events that will showcase the community's historic buildings, creative arts and commercial goods.

In other words, you're going to want to keep this Saturday, Dec. 11, free and clear.

St. Elmo Tour of Homes
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Visit St. Elmo revitalized homes and churches via trolley. Tickets are between $12 and $26, depending on the size of your party. The tour will also make stops at the holiday market, the fair trade festival and, from 6 to 8 p.m., the homes contesting for winner of the Christmas Light Contest.

St. Elmo Holiday Market
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hosted in the newly renovated fire hall, the holiday market will feature arts and handmade crafts by local artists as well as cheery music and treats. Emerson Burch, owner of Artisant Homes, recommends it as a great place to find “memorable presents.” Official website.

Fair Trade Festival
2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Happening in the fellowship hall at St. Elmo Presbyterian Church.

Caroling in the Gardens
6:15 p.m.

Thankful Episcopal Church will be hosting the caroling in their beautiful gardens.

St. Elmo Merchant Holiday Open House
6 to 8 p.m.

Coffee, wine tastings and gifts at various downtown St. Elmo establishments.

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The Tree Tour

2010-10-08T09:00:00Z

Jose Ocando

Eastern white pine’s needles.

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Water oak at 4612 St. Elmo Ave.

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Sugar maple at 5205 Tennessee Ave.

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Peach trees off Tennessee Avenue.

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Mountain laurel.

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This hemlock stands in a field next to St. Elmo Presbyterian Church.

Few people in Tennessee dread the coming of winter more than native Floridians and the vitamin-D deficient, which I and my wife happen to be, respectively. We, for two, are putting our hopes in the Farmer's Almanac, which says that this winter ought to be milder than last year's series of blizzards and hailstorms.

Of course, there are few better ways to prepare for a long bout of cabin fever than to go on a walk and enjoy the turning of the leaves.

And there is no more spectacular collection of trees than in St. Elmo.

There are a good number of foreign species that spice, to use an autumnal word, the local crowd, which, because of Chattanooga's location in relation to the equator, or to be precise, on latitude 35 degrees 2' 44" N, is already a blend of incredible variety.

Sadly, that is also one of the reasons why we're number three on the nation's top 100 allergy capitals. You have to give to get, I suppose.

Braving the dry heat, I took a tree tour of St. Elmo this summer. With me were Robert Heiskell, an arborist who works for Covenant College, and Evan Williams, owner of Mustard Seed Landscaping. We cataloged 28 different types of trees, though there are certainly more than that to be observed.

Below are my notes with exact addresses for where you can find each tree. I encourage you to take the tree tour yourself. Make sure to look out for the top 5 trees of St. Elmo (according to me). I hope you enjoy it!

Start: 46th Street and Tennessee Avenue (The split between Tennessee and Florida Avenues)

End: 44th Street and Tennessee Avenue

Distance: 1.9 miles

Time: Approximately 1 hour

Click here to see a map.

A. Start out going south on Tennessee Avenue, towards the state line.

B. Two peach trees, at 4624 Tennessee Ave.

Fruit trees are always a joy to have, and these two in particular produce a lot of peaches in the summer, though I wouldn't try eating one as they sit on private property. Their leaves have a beautiful crescent shape.

C. A deodar cedar, at 4630 Tennesee Ave.

Deodars are actually native to the Himalayas.

Evan: A lot of St. Elmo trees were planted here by the original settlers, who tended to be wealthy. That's why there are so many exotic varieties here.

Robert: There are only three kinds of true cedars, and the deodar is one of them.

D. A grove of dogwoods, at 4636 Tennessee Ave.

Dogwoods are fairly well-known trees, and have been for a long time, since 1548 to be exact, when they were called "dog-trees." They have white or pink flowers that blossom in early summer.

E. A Japanese maple, at 4707 Tennessee Ave.

It looks like the homeowners pruned it to keep it small, but:

Robert: They're actually dwarf trees. Or at least this cultivar is. Cultivar is short for cultivated variety. They're trees that have been selected or bred for distinct characteristics.

F. An eastern white pine, south 20 yards or so from 4900 Tennessee Ave., behind the little mimosa.

No. 4 on the top 5 trees of St. Elmo.

This is a beautiful tree. White pines can get up to around 160 feet, and there are some on record as old as 500 years. But their crowns don't get cluttered. They have what's called an even branch whorl, which means their branches grow about every two feet on the same horizontal plane, like spokes shooting out over a whole 360 degrees. This makes for an aesthetically pleasing geometry of branch distribution.

Try standing under it and looking straight up.

They also have unusual foliage for pines, or at least what I think of when I think of a pine. Their needles grow in fascicles, or bundles, of five, which make them look like star bursts. And they're a species native to the area.

Robert: I think it's our best pine. They've got a nice blue-green color and a pyramidal habit.

G. A fig tree, at 4919 Tennessee Ave.

No. 5 on the top 5 trees of St. Elmo.

I've seen several fig trees in St. Elmo, but this one is certainly the biggest. They're gorgeous trees. There are actually over 800 species of ficus. This particular kind of fig is the "common fig," or the Ficus carica.

Their leaves have such an interesting shape, sort of like a blackbird. Not the actual bird, but the reconnaissance plane.

Their branches have knobby joints, kind of like knuckles, but smooth bark. And their fruit is, of course, edible, though again, I wouldn't try eating from this tree since it belongs to private property.

H. A Norway spruce, at 5005 Tennessee Ave.

This is one of only a few types of spruce to be seen in the south. Its shoots of needles hang down like candles hanging from their wicks. I really wanted to put it on the top 5. Let's just say if the list went as high as the top 10, they'd be No. 6.

I. A shagbark hickory, at 5011 Tennessee Ave., just down from the spruce.

I may have only put this tree on the tour because of its unique name, which, as might be expected, is meant to describe its shaggy bark.

J. A crape myrtle, at 5101 Tennessee Ave., right on the corner.

These are one of my favorites because of the texture of their bark: smooth and papery. There are a fair number of them in St. Elmo, but this one is my favorite because it has the smoothest bark of any other crape myrtle I've seen, and it has a nice, even coffee color. They flower twice, summer and fall, in little clusters called panicles.

K. A juniper, at 5201 Tennessee Ave., growing over the stop sign.

It's hard to tell what kind this is, as there are almost 70 species of juniper. As a genus they're commonly known for being made into bonsai. This one has been pruned so that all the "interior" branches have been cut. The top branches look like a green roof over the stop sign.

Robert: Cutting out the interior works for the juniper, but not for most other trees.

L. A sugar maple, at 5205 Tennessee Ave.

This isn't the best specimen of sugar maple. The way it's been pruned makes it look a bit grotesque, but fascinatingly so. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this tree is that it's the kind tapped to make maple syrup.

M. A southern magnolia, at 5208 Tennessee Ave.

Magnolia leaves are a rich dark green and their enormous flowers, which blossom in late spring, have a mesmerizing, almost citrusy fragrance. They typically only grow on one tall trunk and can get as high as 90 feet.

N. A Chinese privet, at 5301 Tennessee Ave.

I thought it was a pretty shrub, which you might think as well, but don't mention that to an arborist:

Robert: This is an evil bush. Privets, kudzu and mimosas are recognized as the top three most invasive plants or shrubs.

O. A mountain laurel, directly across the street from the Chinese privet and a little to the north.

Laurels are flowering shrubs native to our area. This particular one has a wonderful curvilinear shape. But be careful around them. Laurels are toxic.

P. Turn back a little and go west on 53rd Street. Then turn right on Beulah Avenue, so you're going north.

Q. A black walnut, across the street from 5207 Beulah Ave.

These trees do produce walnuts. They are actually shelled commercially in the States. When they first fall, they look a little bit like tiny green tennis balls that have been left out in the rain. This is the best time to pick out the meat as it becomes really difficult when the shell hardens.

R. A rose shrub, at 4913 Beulah Ave.

We weren't sure what kind this was. There are a lot of knockout rose bushes on Beulah Avenue, but this doesn't seem to be one of them. It's on this list because it's the biggest rose shrub I've ever seen.

Robert: There are three kinds of roses: a T-rose, a shrub and a climber. I like these wilder, more old-fashioned kinds. It doesn't seem like they've ever pruned it, and it's as happy as a clam.

S. A river birch, at 4907 Beulah Ave. The bark is the most beautiful thing about this tree. Robert called it "exfoliating bark," which means that large segments of it peel away, almost as if its molting.

T. A row of Bradford pears, on Beulah Avenue and 48th Street, Finlay Seagle Park. (Don't walk all the way down the park.)

They smell like rotten fish when they blossom, and almost every one I know is allergic to them, but they all seem to have a nice, even shape, as if they were perfectly coiffed. They're Robert's least favorite tree.

Robert: It's an issue of taste. They're overused and pedestrian. But they're also invasive. And, since they're cultivars, when they reproduce they make a different kind of tree. What's problematic about them is they have a tight branching angle. Each branch that comes off the main trunk points upwards instead of straight out, which means they're weak. I was at a conference in Nashville. The weather had turned ugly and another arborist turned to me and said, "There's a Bradford going down somewhere right now."

U. Walk westwards through the park so that you can cut down 48th Street. The next tree will be on your left, directly on St. Elmo Avenue.

V. An American sycamore, at 4802 St. Elmo Ave.

No. 1 on the top 5 trees of St. Elmo.

The upper reaches of the tree, or the younger portions, are a light gray. This is the defining characteristic of the sycamore.

If you look into its crown, you'll notice black, synthetic fibers wrapped around some of the branches. These fibers are part of a cobra system, or a cabling system, that supports a tree that has "co-dominant" stems. This particular tree has co-dominant stems because any stems that endangered the power lines had to be cut down. The cobra system was put in place to protect the tree from breaking apart and to help it develop a support system of its own.

W. Continue down St. Elmo Avenue and then turn left at 46th Street. Go up 46th towards Alabama Avenue.

X. Two water oaks, at 4612 St. Elmo Ave. You'll see them on the right as you walk up 46th.

These tall, leafy trees dwarf the house they stand behind.

Y. Turn right, going north on Alabama Avenue.

Z. A holly tree, at 4520 Alabama Ave.

I'm used to recognizing holly bushes, but I don't know that I had ever seen a holly tree before Robert and Evan pointed it out to me. They have spiky leaves and bright red berries. Careful, the berries are toxic to humans.

AA. A weeping cherry, at 4502 Alabama Ave.

It's generally thought (or at least I always thought) that weeping willows are the only kinds of tree that "weep." But weeping is actually a genetic trait that can happen to any tree, though most of the weeping trees we see are cultivars.

Cherry trees are beautiful trees all on their own, even when they're not weeping. They're famous for lining West Potomac Park in Washington D.C., and they have the similar contrasting beauty of a dogwood.

BB. A saucer magnolia, at 45th Street and Alabama Avenue, to the right of the sidewalk leading up to the house.

The typical saucer magnolia is more shrub-like, but this particular saucer is so old — the owner told us it was planted when the house was built in 1883 — it looks more like a tree. So, I didn't recognize it at first. Saucers have large pink lowers that resemble a tea cup on top of its saucer.

CC. A tulip poplar, at 4413 Alabama Ave.

They're named for their yellow-green flowers that resemble tulips. They're one of the tallest of all native American hardwoods, reaching up to 190 feet.

DD. A northern red oak, at 4405 Alabama Ave. — you'll know it when you see it.

This is my contender for biggest, tallest tree in St. Elmo. It's as wide around as an elephant and as tall, seemingly, as the sky.

This is No. 3 on the top 5 trees of St. Elmo.

EE. Turn around and head straight down 44th Street.

FF. An oakleaf hydrangea, at 1642 W. 44th St. You'll see it on the right, in between two dogwoods, as you walk down 44th.

It's another flowering shrub that's a native species. As the name suggests, their leaves are oak-like. When they blossom, their little white flowers are arranged in panicles. This is one of the biggest ones I've ever seen.

GG. After crossing St. Elmo Ave., turn right and walk across the front of the church. Turn left after the church and you'll see the next tree in the center of the large yard.

HH. A hemlock, at 4402 St. Elmo Ave., in the field next to St. Elmo Presbyterian Church

No. 2 on the top 5 trees of St. Elmo.

You'll have to do a little backtracking after you see this one, but it's worth it. Try walking up under it, too. I'll let the tree, which happens to be a native species, speak for itself.

Robert: Hemlocks are endangered. There's an Asian bug that's killing them all in the wild, especially in the Carolinas.

II. You'll have to backtrack now. Walk north on St. Elmo Avenue. and turn right, going east, on 44th Street.

JJ. A willow oak, at 1554 West 44th St., across from the side of the church.

This one is another titan. Its abundance of small, canoe-shaped leaves give it the appearance of bountiful vibrancy.

Robert: It's a good street tree. A lot of the trees downtown are willow oaks.

KK. Turn right on 44th Street and head south on Tennessee Avenue.

LL. Two eastern red cedars, guarding 4409 Tennessee Ave.

Their name is misleading. They're actually a type of juniper, not cedar. They can get tall, sometimes up to 80 feet. I love the contrast of the gnarly, brown trunks and the bright green scales that make up its leaves.

MM. And you're done!

Thanks for taking the St. Elmo Tree Tour. I hope you enjoyed the great variety of trees. If you've gotten hungry, you can continue on a little farther to the St. Elmo Community Park on 49th Street and St. Elmo Avenue for a picnic and some well-deserved rest.

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From Station 14 to Unique Event Center

2010-09-20T09:00:00Z

Jose Ocando

Fire hall’s second story with a view of finished hardwood floor.

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Original second story floor door.

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Upstairs office space with a view of the dormer.

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Iron casement windows looking out onto St. Elmo Avenue.

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The fire hall’s banquet hall.

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The fire hall’s tiered back yard and brick patio.

Last Saturday Artistant Homes LLC, a local home restoration and custom furniture company, celebrated the completed renovation of the old fire hall at 4501 St. Elmo Ave.

The fire hall, which was built circa 1934, served initially as fire station No. 14, servicing a 1,000 gallon fire engine. It also served as a department office before it became neglected.

"I lusted after the fire hall for years," said Emerson Burch, owner of Artisant Homes. "I thought it was gorgeous, and it wasn't good for this building not to shine. When I heard the city was selling it, I moved into action."

Burch, a native Texan, moved to the area six years ago. "St. Elmo is the neighborhood that sold me on Chattanooga," he said. Although he lives in Highland Park, his business is located in St. Elmo, and he has completed two home renovations in the neighborhood among other smaller projects.

Although the work of Artisant Homes is principally renovation, Burch is driven by philosophical vision. "It's not about a transitional structure," he said. "It's about people's homes. It's about settling in a space. It's not about economical space. I don't find that wildly inspiring. A neighborhood getting to interact. Restoring the historical. I find that inspiring."

Burch is currently brainstorming with nonprofits about how to do low-income housing restorations. He believes that renovated homes need to be affordable and accessible to people in the community.

Burch is equally philosophical about the fire hall. Practically, the building will serve as an event center. The downstairs banquet hall can fit around 50, and there is a room of about the same size upstairs. Attached to the banquet hall is a full kitchen. The space will be available for parties, teas, brunches, art shows, receptions, etc. But philosophically, Burch hopes that the fire hall will be a place where the neighborhood can get together. "Most people in St. Elmo can walk here," he said. "It's an accessible landmark."

Burch's passion for "restoring the historical" is evident in the renovation of the 80-year-old Tudor Revival. Driving by, you may have seen the restoration of the half-timbering, painted in "spiced wine," the pressure washing of the intricately patterned brick work, the painting of the iron casement windows in black, the painting of the dormers and gables in more "spice wine" and "paraffin," and the painting of the board-and-batten front door to the original red.

Inside, the concrete first floor has been refinished and stained chocolate, the hardwood floors upstairs have been stripped, sanded and polished. The plaster walls have been repaired throughout, and the old hose racks in the hose room and the door in the upstairs floor for the brass pole have been retained.

Some modern touches are the installation of sliding double doors in replacement of the old up-and-over garage door, the installation of can lights and chandeliers in the first and second story ceilings, tiling in a suite upstairs, faux finish on the banquet hall walls, chic vanities in the bathrooms, designed by Artisant Homes, a tiered back yard, brickwork in the back yard patio, and landscaping around the property.

Having finished the fire hall, Burch is already looking forward to his next big project, a 4,200 square foot arts center on Brainerd Road.

"We enjoy being in the center of so much restoration and renovation work with amazing neighbors who really care about the community," says Artistant Homes on its website.

Prices for renting the fire hall are currently being set. To contact Artisant Homes, call (423)521-0098 or e-mail info@artisanthomes.com.

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St. Elmo Summer Arts Series Ends Dramatically

2010-08-16T14:30:00Z

Jose Ocando

Extended view of the old, beautiful sanctuary.

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Center stage.

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The lantern Katie used to look for Martin.

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Katie’s writing desk.

"One day my husband single-handedly changed the history of the western world."

"What a lot of rot."

These are the intriguing introductory words to Watchmen for the Morning, a monologue featuring Katharina von Bora, the nun who was married to Martin Luther, the monk commonly credited with starting the Protestant Reformation.

Watchmen for the Morning was written by Camille Hallstrom, theater professor at Covenant College. She referred to it as a "mothball," having written it during her time as a graduate student. She performed it for the St. Elmo Summer Arts Series last Friday night, Aug. 13.

The performance took place in the beautiful, old sanctuary of St. Elmo Presbyterian Church. Hallstrom bursts in from stage right, covered in a shawl and relieved to be sheltered from what must be a harsh winter night. It is 4:30 in the morning on Feb. 22, 1546. Katharina von Bora is waiting for her husband to return home, per a letter she had received earlier. Unbeknownst to her, Luther died two days earlier.

As she makes herself comfortable indoors, Katharina, fondly called Katie by her husband, addresses the audience. She begins by relating the facts of Luther's life. But her vibrant, complex personality hardly leaves it at that. She gives her own colorful and endearingly human commentary upon each subject.

For instance, Katie and her husband were reputed to have a loving marriage. But the circumstances of their becoming married are anything but romantic. Katie was among 12 nuns who Luther helped to escape their convent. When they had reached safety, Luther arranged for each of them to be married, all except for Katie. She was attached at different times to two men, but told Martin and another man, Nikolaus von Amsdorf, that she would only marry one of the two of them. Shortly thereafter, Katie and Luther were engaged and married on the same day.

"Not exactly what you'd call a love story, is it?" Katie says in the monologue.

And later, "Who can know if we love well or poorly? You can only do it."

She discloses her inner life as a woman of faith. She prays to God before the audience, "Never let me curse you."

On day-to-day life with Luther, "Nuns, you understand, do not fart."

On the many trips which Luther took, "I'm so tired with waiting."

On his sometimes illogical stubbornness, "He always wanted to die a martyr's death and look what it got him — kidney stones."

And on his death, "My husband is dead and I am as mad as the devil."

Hallstrom, taking for her subject a woman of the 16th century and a marriage set against the backdrop of a movement that would change the world, a movement steeped in principles and ideas, finds a way to demonstrate the blood and bones humanity, the unabridged thoughts of a woman who was married to a man who no one could claim led a life of conventionality and ease.

She was, in turns, resentful, exasperated, loving, forbearing, passionate, angry, sarcastic, despairing, proud, afraid, exhausted, nostalgic, faithful, unbelieving, befuddled, and sorrowful. She was, in short, a true woman, but a woman strong enough to be married to a man as crazed as Martin Luther.

Hallstrom performed compellingly and with perfect timing. She made me love Katharina von Bora, a woman who, from her painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, looks fairly bleak and mean.

Watchmen for the Morning was the last installment of the St. Elmo Summer Arts Series. Hallstrom plans to perform the drama again either at New City Fellowship in Glenwood or at Covenant College. No specific date has been set yet. Additionally, dramas performed by Hallstrom's students are available during the school year.

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‘Keeping it Alive’ at Asher Love

2010-07-13T09:00:00Z

Jose Ocando

Graffiti art by Sour One.

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Boombox art by Sour One.

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The second room.

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The view from the main doors.

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Graffiti art by Sour One.

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Graffiti art by Sour One.

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Graffiti art by Sour One.

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Graffiti art by Sour One.

Jose Ocando

Graffiti art by Sour One.

At most museums and galleries, the walls are typically a plain white. They're meant to be a quiet backdrop for the art. But Sour One, a native Chattanoogan and graffiti artist, incorporated the walls at the Asher Love Studio and Gallery into his exhibit, "Keeping it Alive."

The arresting sight from the gallery's main door is of a room-sized tag spray-painted straight onto the wall. Its colors are saturated and dramatic and its style seems to borrow as much from graphic design as it does from graffiti. Four tagged vinyl records hang over the "u" in "sour".

Above the main entrance spans another enormous tag, this one in green and shadowed in black and purple.

The scale and colors are impressive.

As it's meant to be. One of Sour One's hopes for the exhibit is that it will legitimize graffiti as an art form among city dwellers.

"Graffiti has a bad name in Chattanooga, but it can be tasteful and respectful," he said. "Not all artists are running around, painting janky pieces on the walls of businesses, or scribbling on churches, or writing their name in etching fluid on a store window."

Among the installations are also mobile pieces. There are pieces painted on traditional wood canvases. But then there are also pieces painted on nontraditional surfaces: skateboards, a notice sign, a boom box. And along with the pieces bearing the tag "Sour One" are pieces of portraits or abstracts.

The second room of the gallery has a decidedly different feel. Trash litters the floor. A number of TVs are stacked against the wall, some of which are turned on to white noise, some of which Sour One bashed himself. A shopping cart with a figure sitting in it stands in the corner. The walls are painted in here as well, but not as cleanly.

"Bringing graffiti into the art room has been the toughest thing I've had to do," Sour One said. He explained that he tagged the walls of the room over and over, to give the viewer the experience that this room had been subject to years of graffiti and urban decay.

"Some artists sit in their studios sipping wine and eating cheese, but graffiti artists risk their lives to do what they love," he said. "It takes away the griminess, the grittiness, which people ignore, but which needs to be addressed."

"Keeping it Alive" will be exhibited at the Asher Love Studio and Gallery through August.

"His work is very unique," said spectator Jenna Rogers. "It's fantastic. I love it."

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The Gunfight

2010-06-24T01:00:00Z

The first time that a man wakes up in the middle of the night to the ringing of gunshots outside his house, he does not immediately have a strategic plan of action.

Or at least I didn't. I was half-awake and confused. Sounds were muffled. I wanted to know what time it was.

And then I heard, as if for the first time:

Blam! Blam!

Gunshots, I thought, quizzically. And then I started registering more sounds.

Someone yelled, "I've called the cops!" There were people running about.

Blam! Blam!

Oh my gosh, I thought. There's a gang shootout going on outside.

Since I've lived in St. Elmo, I've heard from a number of people that thirty years ago this neighborhood used to be prey to a lot more crime than it is now, even crime caused by gangs. However, perhaps because of the work of the police department's Crime Suppression Unit — which targets gangs, and the slow rehabilitation of St. Elmo — gangs have become nearly non-existent.

And that's what I would tell people who told me they didn't want to live in St. Elmo because of the crime. It was frustrating for me that my community would be judged by a generalization that may have been true at one point, but is certainly not true today.

Or is it?

It would have been hard for me to say as I listened to a gunfight in progress outside my house.

I turned to my wife and said, "I'm gonna check out what's going on."

"No!" she said, grabbing my arm. "Stay here with me."

I hesitated. It seemed like my duty was to figure out what was going on. At least I could look out the window briefly. But she seemed pretty scared, and with all the gunshots that I had heard and continued to hear, it didn't seem improbable that I could get hit by a stray bullet.

"OK," I said.

Almost immediately I heard the wail of sirens.

Police, I thought reassuringly.

I heard the patrol cars pulling up to our street. Doors opened and slammed shut.

"Don't move," someone yelled.

Blam! Blam! Shots were still going off.

Suddenly the bright light of a searchlight flooded through our bedroom windows.

Oh my gosh, I realized. The gang members must have fled once they heard the sirens, and some of them climbed up the hill to our house. What would I do if they broke into our house, trying to find an escape route?

My dad was woken up in such a way one night. A person fleeing the police smashed into the window of his bedroom, casting shards of glass everywhere, some of which cut my dad. But the fugitive was cut all over his body. Afterwards, my dad told me, he spent more time cleaning up blood than he did glass. I did not want to have a similar encounter with an armed and desperate fugitive.

"If we hear someone come in," I told my wife, "we're going to hide in the closet." She gave no response. I thought she was terrified, but she told me later she was speechless about me suggesting such "an idiotic plan." The spotlight was still skimming our front yard, but the gunshots had stopped. We continued waiting.

After some time, the searchlight stopped moving. I could tell it was still on, but it was stationary. And I could still hear people moving outside, talking. It seemed like things had calmed down.

My head started to hurt from lack of sleep.

"OK," I told my wife, "I'm exhausted. I'm gonna go to sleep."

"What?" she exclaimed.

"I'm tired," I said. "I'm sure everything is fine now." I don't think she found this very comforting, but I can't say I remember because I fell asleep almost immediately.

—

The next day, after we had woken up, we walked onto our front porch to see if there was any evidence of the gunfight to be observed. All we could see was a utility truck repairing some of the power lines above the sidewalk.

That's weird, I thought. But I did faintly recall the power going out during the night. I just hadn't paid any mind to it.

Our neighbor, an elderly woman who seemed to live alone, was out on her porch as well.

"Morning!" my wife shouted cheerily. "Do you know what happened last night?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said. "The work that the landscapers have been doing to my front yard must have gotten to the roots of the big tree that was here, and it fell over onto the power lines. I'm sorry about all the trouble. I called the cops once I heard the noise, and they sent someone right away."

It struck me like a thunderclap, like a left hook to my exposed jaw. There was no gunfight. A tree had fallen onto power lines, and what we thought were gunshots were just snaps of electricity coming, I guessed, from the transformers or the wires themselves. The searchlight was not a searchlight. It was a spotlight, looking for any exposed wires.

My wife and I had dramatically interpreted the noises we had heard into a gang shootout.

How embarrassing.

And not only because we might be clinically paranoid. But also because we had succumbed to the image of St. Elmo as a place of crime, as a place where gangs claimed the streets at night.

"It's OK," my wife yelled back. "We never woke up."

We ducked back in the house.

Sometime later that day, my wife and I were stepping out of our house to run some errands, and we bumped into our other neighbor.

"What happened to you guys last night?" he asked. "Everyone was out on the sidewalks, watching all the excitement. I think I met everyone on our street." He pointed out the different houses we could see from our driveway and told us the names of the people that lived there, the people who he had met last night while we lay terrified in our bed. "It was so much fun," he said.

"We never woke up," my wife lied again, shrugging. "We just found out about it when we got up this morning. I guess we're heavy sleepers."

"Wow," our neighbor said. "It was right outside your house. Well, you definitely missed out."

I hope he never reads this.

It struck me as I thought about this shameful episode of our lives that the state of affairs in St. Elmo is rather vague. Ask anyone in St. Elmo about the safety here and you'll hear an entire spectrum of answers.

Some people number off various times when their house or car has been broken into. Some people recall what St. Elmo used to be like, and then tell how it's now a very different community. Some people say that there are a suspicious number of teenagers walking around wearing red. And then there are some people who quote statistics that show crime is low and argue that other people like to exaggerate. Some people say crime is only on the south end. Some people say it's everywhere. It seems as if no one in our community really knows for sure what kind of a place we live in.

I thought, as I wrote this article, that it would only be fair for me to clear up my own vague notions about gangs in St. Elmo. I spoke with the commander of the Chattanooga Police Department's Crime Suppression Unit, Sergeant Todd Royval.

"St. Elmo has never been a big gang haven," he told me. "At least since '94 when I started here. We have had a few occasions where we make an arrest in St. Elmo, and we find gang paraphernalia. But those are gang members who live in St. Elmo while claiming Alton Park as their territory. I don't know of any gang that specifically claims St. Elmo as its territory. Like I said, there are a few gang members in the area, but they do their gang-banging in other places."

This is an embarrassing statement for me as it proves that I irrationally judged loud bangs outside my house to be a gang shootout.

But I hope it helps anyone who has wondered about whether there are gangs in St. Elmo or not. And I hope my embarrassment helps us to realize that our perspectives about our own community can be influenced by fear; that, as quantum mechanics will tell you, our observations about a thing can change that thing substantially.

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Sundown in St. Elmo Is Saturday

2010-06-04T09:11:04Z

This Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m., the St. Elmo Merchants Association is hosting the second installment of the Sundown in St. Elmo summer series. The merchants association hopes that the events, which take place every first Saturday, May through October, will help Chattanoogans to get to know what they call “our little five points.”

Among the activities that visitors can enjoy are artist receptions, live and DJ-ed music, specials on food and beverages from Pasha Coffeehouse, Moccasin Bend Brewing Company and Blacksmith’s Bistro, as well as outdoor climbing, art and a fashion market.

Visit the event's Facebook page for more details.

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