"Social Networking: Taking Your Business Online" will feature three expert speakers. John Hawbaker, founder and editor of Chattarati, a Chattanooga news and culture blog, will discuss the interplay of business and the blogosphere. Josiah Roe, president of Medium, will discuss marketing strategies on the web. Adrienne Royer, Director of Development and Communications at Girls Inc., will introduce entrepreneurs to recent social networking tools, including Twitter and Facebook.

SpringBoard is a resource hub for Chattanooga's entrepreneurs, helping businesses and non-profits move forward with confidence, for the good of their owners and the community as a whole. Programs like the Small Business Panel Discussion support the CreateHere mission to empower innovative entrepreneurs.

RSVP to this event by emailing sheldon@createhere.org, or by calling 423.648.2195.

Storyteller Jim Pfitzer--an ArtsMove artist, as well--will host eco-storytelling sessions and an interactive Eagles Nest building session, at noon and 2 pm, April 4-12, April 16-19, and April 23-26.

Sculptor Isaac Duncan--a Springboard graduate, incidentally--will be building a permanent sculpture in the gardens, called "Perched Raptor."

From April through October, sculptor Roger Halligan will display "Iron Age." And the final flourish? Halligan's an ArtsMove artist as well.

Keep up with all the activities going on this April at Rock City by visiting their website.

Li has been described as a "delightful mixture" in the art world: an illustrator who also excels in web design; a graphic artist with a gift for social networking; and a self-proclaimed Flickr fanatic. Whatever role she plays, one description holds true: Li is an expert in her field.

Li starts her tour of the city with an event hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "Networking without the 'Ick'" begins at 8 am at green|spaces, and is open to the general public.

In the evening, Li will speak at CreateHere from 6 to 7 pm, with a reception to follow. "Creating Opportunities" is open to the general public, and bookends a day of design know-how.

Li is a graduate of the University of Florida, where she received a BFA in graphic design. She is originally from Taiwan, but calls San Francisco home today, where she pursues and publishes in the areas of graphic design, CSS, web standards, and her personal lifetime "to do" list.

Join the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Medium, AIGA Chattanooga and CreateHere in welcoming Li to Chattanooga. Check Li out online.

FACES features work by David Andrews, Mia Bergeron, Miki Boni, Katie Claiborne, Cat Collier, Judy Condon, Patricia DeLeon, Matthew Dutton, Neely Hyde and Kirstin Stingle. 2D and 3D pieces in this show explore the visual and emotional structure of the face--and what ultimately makes us unique. All pieces in FACES are priced under $1200, making this a gallery event with real fundraising potential.

CreateHere hosts FACES in conjunction with Palate 2 Palette: A Celebration of Visual, Culinary and Floral Arts. This multi-venue benefit will be held on April 4, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. A shuttle bus will give visitors the chance to visit all nine participating Southside galleries in support of an organization with local and global impact. CreateHere's portion of the event includes culinary delights from Table Two, floral trappings from Pejoux, and interior stylings from SmartFurniture. Additionally, Philip Luckey has produced a custom video installation for the exhibition.

During the six week exhibition of FACES, each purchase supports three important local causes. 10% of every sale goes directly to the Craniofacial Foundation of America, or CFA, providing invaluable support for the organization's projects. CFA is a Tennessee-based non-profit dedicated to supporting individuals with facial disfigurement from birth defects, tumors and trauma. Additionally, 25% of every purchase goes to CreateHere, supporting creatives in Chattanooga through initiatives like the MakeWork arts grant program. And of course, 65% of the purchase price goes directly to the artist, pumping valuable capital into our local creative economy.

Join CreateHere for FACES. We've extended our gallery hours to celebrate: Our doors are open every Saturday morning from 9 am to 1 pm, in addition to Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

Visit Palate 2 Palette to purchase tickets for the April 4 event, and for more information on CFA.

With $150,000 worth of grants to award and a maximum amount of $15,000 per individual, now is the time for Chattanooga's creatives to make their presence known. We hope that artists and artisans will come out in numbers and capture valuable financial resources to help them succeed and grow.

"It is unusual for a city the size of Chattanooga to have such a large purse available for grants to individual artists," says LeadHere Fellow Harv Wileman. "The fact that so many disciplines are open for awards is unusual as well. Anyone from sculptors to conductors to cheesemakers to writers may apply. We awarded 24 grants last year in every imaginable field. We expect the pool of applicants to be even more diverse this time around."

Grants are available in two categories--projects and career advancement. Wileman, who has written grants for several arts and cultural organizations, often meets with potential applicants to discuss the grants process. "Sometimes an artist is so close to their work that it helps to bounce an idea off someone else."

We'd like to remind all interested creatives in the Chattanooga area that it isn't too late to begin planning your grant proposal. Want to talk through an idea? Contact Wileman by emailing harv@createhere.org or by calling 423.648.2195.

Cast your vote for our city by visiting Southern Living online. Polls are open until June 30.

Let's make Chattanooga #1.

At CreateHere, we're committed to nurturing new modalities of thought and encouraging exploration on a range of fronts. HelloWorld.show(); is just one of many upcoming shows that will remind us all: creative work comes in many forms.

In one year, this entrepreneurial force has made a meaningful impact on Chattanooga's local economy. When creativity meets business, innovation flourishes. Woodworkers and sculptors, personal trainers and culinary artists: we've given them the resources to succeed in business.

Round one includes current and aspiring boutique owners, a videographer, a watch and clock expert, and a few talented cooks. Check out what some participants have to say about the program:

SpringBoard is always accepting applications for the Business Planning Course. For more information, contact Sheldon Grizzle at sheldon@createhere.org, or by calling 423.648.2195.

Roll through the footage to hear Cabeen talk about his best business practices. The accompanying piece focuses more broadly on Chattanooga entrepreneurs that are staying afloat in tough economic times. We couldn't be prouder of Chattanooga's resilient residents and robust local economy.

Green|spaces is currently funding a competition for the design of a multi-use central plaza and pavilion for Jefferson Heights Park. Winning designers will be awarded $80,000 for design development and construction of the project. Visit the competition website for the RFP and more information.

Entries due: 4/6/09
Questions due: 3/20/09
Winner announced: 4/10/09

A life-long educator, Merrow has taught at the junior high, high school, college, and graduate level. He is founder and president of Learning Matters, a non-profit, award-winning production company focused on producing outstanding reporting about American education.

Merrow's lecture on Tuesday will focus on the recession, and what needs to happen in public education if schools are to stay afloat.

All events in George T. Hunter Lecture series are free and open to the public. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Directions and more information on the George T. Hunter Lecture Series are available at www.benwood.org.

CreateHere is excited to unveil New Views, a gallery exhibit featuring work by MakeWork grant recipients Dana Shavin and Daryl Thetford. The show explores the theme of nostalgia--both public and private--through pieces based in photography.

Shavin, a writer and mixed-media artist, exhibits pieces from A Better House. In this series, Shavin combines original text with photo transparencies to discuss the idea of "home" and the significance of physicality in our private lives.

Thetford, a photographer, displays collage images that combine vintage signage and Americana relics. These pieces combine objects that, though they may have lost their cultural familiarity over time, serve as entry points into a public nostalgia and help rewrite our collective sense of history.

CreateHere will host a gallery reception for New Views on Thursday, March 12, 2009 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The event will feature a cocktail hour and an open mic venue.

In exploring the theme of shared history--and the revision thereof--CreateHere asks participants to forget everything they know about open mic night. Filmmakers and visual artists are encouraged to attend, in addition to poets, storytellers and musicians. Rethink what it means to share.

Here's how it works: We'll give you a list of 10 adjectives, and then we pass the creative reins over to you and your digital camera. Think the new Warehouse Row sign is "Transcendent." And who could blame you, really? Nab a photo, and bring it back to the CreateHere Studio, where we'll showcase the results over local foods and tunes from DJ k[7].

A little birdie told us you might want to marinate on those adjectives. But if anyone asks, we didn't tell you...

bright | palatable | stellar | effervescent | communal | tragic | cryptic | glitzy | raucous | crisp | lucky

ChattanoogaWorks Launch Party
CreateHere Studios
55 E Main Street
6-9 pm

ChattanoogaWorks is an on-going campaign to elicit city love from residents. This photography campaign features user-submitted images in an online gallery and celebrates our city, from many flattering angles. Amateur and professional photography is welcome in this showcase project: we'll feature cell phone submissions next to digital SLR shots.

The event begins with a Chattanooga photo scavenger hunt from 6 to 7 pm. Bring a digital camera, and be ready to show us how Chattanooga works.

The evening continues at CreateHere, where we'll showcase the results of the scavenger hunt, serve favorite staples from local eateries, and groove to music from DJ k[7].

Next Friday's party kicks it all off, but ChattanoogaWorks will accept submissions throughout the coming months. This is a way to celebrate all that Chattanooga is right now, and what it means to be a "local" today.