It Is A Playful Day Of Whimsy In Chattanooga At The Sculpture Fields At Montague Park

[00:00:00]Hello adventurers and welcome back to my channel. Do you have a sense of whimsy?

[00:00:03]Well, today we're going to be going to the Montague Sculpture Park here in the Chattanooga area. This is a wonderful multi-acre sculpture park. It's around 30 acres all together and scattered throughout the entirety of the property, you will find variations of different kinds of sculptures from people from around the area and it's really interesting to see. These are larger than life and all of them are a little bit different.

[00:00:27]So, come with me as we walk around and enjoy the art, talk a little bit more about the artists and get our steps in today and show you why this is such a neat thing that you should do when you come to Chattanooga.

[00:00:39]So, while you are here, it will take you through a series of each of these sculptures telling you a little bit more about each and every one of them as you move throughout and get a little bit more detail about each artist. Now, as you're looking at each piece though, you can find that each one has a tag that tells you a little bit more about what it's called, [music] what it's made of, when it was put here, when it was commissioned, how large it is, all of the fun facts. Super easy and user-friendly >> [music] >> to enjoy your walk but have a little bit of extra detail if you don't want to do that auto cast. If you do the two together, it goes hand-in-hand and works extremely well together. Now, let's get moving just a little bit further down here and we'll talk about a little more about what made this particular field happen and some history of this area.

[00:01:22]Now, as we're walking around, you might notice some of the sculptures are quite large and imposing and that's what makes this a little bit different than some of the other places you can go around Chattanooga where the art might be a little bit smaller. [music] Now, this was the vision of a modern sculpture artist named John Henry. He did contemporary art and way back in 2016 on April 8th, they actually unveiled this park for the first time. Now, again, it's 33 acres and they utilize this space in a really unique way. The natural vegetation actually complements the art in a a unique way. You'll see clover on the ground, little bees buzzing to each of the little flowers.

[00:02:02]And as you're here, you kind of feel like you're moving amongst giants, like this. This thing is huge. These are not by any means the small things that you see in some cities that might be just a small piece of art here, a tiny piece of art here. Large and in charge is the name of the game here at the Montague Sculpture Park. Now, this is a extensive property to roam. So, I'm going to be sharing a few of those with you from some unique angles that you can visualize and see. I'm going to share some of the seating. They have a restroom [music] here, a nice expansive parking lot. So, if you're coming out, this is a nice place just to come out. I see many people walking their dogs, and a few people even out here with their kiddos. It's been a lovely time already, and I'm just getting started. We have a lot more to explore, and let me tell you, some of these things, as you're looking at them from a distance, when you get up close to them, they are far larger than you could even imagine. It is incredible to see, and [music] that's one of the things I personally have enjoyed about the Chattanooga area. They really have amplified voices within the art space, >> [music] >> and shared a variety of different kinds of things. So, whether you're a person who enjoys street art or murals, or you like sculptures, or you like more of a collective, they are all over it. Not to mention they have a renowned museum here that is open actually on Thursdays between 4:00 and close, I believe, absolutely for free in their galleries.

[00:03:30]So, that's kind of a fun little fact for you. First Thursday of the month, come into town, check out the free art.

[00:03:36]Otherwise, the the fees aren't too bad.

[00:03:37]You can also join the membership program if you like to support local art, and it just goes back into the community. And you know, on my channel, we love to do things like that. So, if you are here just wanting to recreate, this is a nice big, safe space. But also, if you are a person who enjoys art, this one is definitely for you. But I've got a lot of walking to do, so for the next few minutes just enjoy some of the beauty and I'll catch you kind of over in this direction in just a few moments. One of the things I'm noticing as I'm walking around is you could spend quite a bit of time here.

[00:04:08]I have just been taking it all in, enjoying everything and it's absolutely gorgeous.

[00:04:15]It's really cool to see how the modern art just [clears throat and music] jets out of the ground and swirls across it and how you find [music] things that have really massive pieces to them and as you're moving around, you feel kind of surrounded and small.

[00:04:30]And a lot of times whenever you're standing next to art, you feel like you're bigger than it, but not here. Not here.

[00:04:37]Here everything is sprawling, big, and huge as it invites you to come [music] up to it and question, what do I think about this?

[00:04:45]It's pretty neat. It almost looks like it's just a piece that >> [music] >> has come out of the ground and see, it's huge.

[00:04:57]Huge is the key word here at this sculpture garden.

[00:05:02]It is massive, amazing, bright, vibrant, fun, has a lot of whimsy, all of that right here and absolutely free.

[00:05:14]An amazing place again to take a walk.

[00:05:16]There's little shade here and there that you can catch. And so on a day like today when it's a little bit more warm, you can still find those quiet retreats.

[00:05:23]And then there of course there's benches everywhere. So, this has been amazing. I'm on the back side of the property now currently.

[00:05:30]>> [music] >> Parking is in that direction.

[00:05:32]And we're kind of making our way around this really large loop. Now, while we're talking about the sprawling expanse that has all the beauty jetting up out of the earth as though it was made to be here in some unique way. This used to be a just kind of a brown patch here in Chattanooga. Now, believe it or not, at one point in time, Chattanooga had a pretty odd reputation. It was known as a dirty city. And the reason why was because the industry that was in this area. The industry itself had gone through some of this land and tore it apart, left it to ruin, and nobody really used parts of the city at all.

[00:06:05]But, that's whenever John and his wife Pamela saw this and saw a vision of something better, something that could bring in international artists as well as local artists. And he wanted to envision this to be something that people could come to [music] and treat kindly. And so, what they did was they started this plan [music] way back in 2006. Now, 2006 to 2016, there was a lot of work that had to be done. They [music] worked with the land. They brought it back to life. They gave it a new and second beginning. And in doing so, they started to contact some of the other people in their international art space. See, John is world-renowned. Lots of people know him. His art is in lots of places. But, Chattanooga had a soft spot for John. And so, he wanted to bring this place to more people so that they could see this abundance of joy that is here now in Chattanooga that we see in the more modern day. No more is it fields of waste. No more is it abandoned mercantile and things that were destroyed and just kind of passing away after industry would leave. In fact, it was thriving. And the thriving brought in more people. And where do people want to go? They want to go see outdoor spaces. Because of course they do. Which is why partially that not only John and Pamela decided to do this, but the remainder of the city of Chattanooga also got to work. And in doing so, they have now turned what once was known as a gross little city that had a lot of, you know, industry into something that is now known as America's only National Park City. Now, in order to get this designation, it is quite difficult. You have to have outdoor spaces. You have to have certain kinds of things and offerings. And they've worked really hard here in Chattanooga to bring that to be. And this is one of those pieces.

[00:07:49]This art park brings people in from around the world to see these amazing sculptures. Now, if you're a person who is not as familiar with more modern-looking art, you might be thinking, "Huh, what is this? What is that? What are these?" But if you're a person who loves art, you can come in and see the vision. And if you're a person who is just passively coming out here at Riverbend, it's also nice here for you, too. That's the nice thing about places like this. They aren't just singular. They aren't just focused in a singular one existence flight. Instead, they add texture to the community in such a unique way, and that offers more things to more people here in Chattanooga.