Hunter Museum of American Art

I’ve been having a rough go of things lately. Today, I took the day off from work — boss’ orders. It was nice to gift myself a three-day weekend.

Many of our weekends have been spent sitting on the couch, thanks to COVID-19. I wanted today to feel special. We decided to go to the Hunter Museum of American Art.

The museum has been on my Chattanooga to-do list since we moved here last year. Then we couldn’t go even if we had tried to, because the museum, like so many other places, closed down in March and stayed closed for an extended period of time. They recently opened back up a few weeks ago.

I’m still concerned about being around more people than necessary in an indoor location, but I thought it would be safer to go on a week day. We were by ourselves for most of our time there. It only got crowded later in the morning, when we were on our way out.

The Hunter Museum of American Art is in the Bluff View Art District. It consists of two buildings, a modern building and the historic Hunter Mansion. We both enjoyed our time there. There was a wide range of different types of art. My favorite were all of the landscapes, especially some of the autumn related scenes and ones of Chattanooga.

There was a special exhibit on display, The F Word: We mean Female! This was a whole collection of art by female artists in honor of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S.

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A painting of Lookout Mountain, with the Tennessee River in the background.
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A painting appropriately titled “Autumn.” I loved this one.
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Inside the Hunter Mansion.
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One of the displays in The F Word exhibit.
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The best place to stay dry on a rainy day in Chattanooga

This weekend we paid a visit to a fun and quirky alleyway in Chattanooga.

It’s officially called Atlas Alley, but most people have been referring to it as Umbrella Alley. I wanted to know if there was a particular artist that put the installation together, but I could not find any information.

Atlas/Umbrella Alley is in West Village, which is two blocks of shops and restaurants in downtown Chattanooga. If you’re looking for more specific directions, it is directly across from Antibes, a clothing store.

On this particular Saturday outing, we wanted to check out a new sandwich shop, Anastasia’s Old World Delicatessen, and we had planned to find the alley afterwards. With no idea of where it was located, it was ironic that both spots were in West Village. I could actually see the umbrellas from my seat in Anastasia’s. I highly recommend combining a visit to the umbrellas with lunch here.

There are rows and rows of brightly colored umbrellas with lights underneath simulating rain. It is a great stop for a quick photo op.

Derek and I both have backgrounds in art, so we love checking out local artwork where ever we are.

It is unclear as to how long the installation will stay, so make sure to check it out soon!

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