posted July 2, 2008
Chattanooga’s Ascending Path located in Renaissance Park was chosen as one of America’s Best Public Art Projects.
The bronze and steel sculpture, installed in 2007, was recognized at the 2008 Americans for the Arts annual convention in Philadelphia and was chosen from more than 200 entries across the nation.
Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. Forty-five of the best public art works in the United States received the distinguished honor. Chattanooga was a first-time recipient.
“Without the generous private donation of the Tonya Memorial Foundation for Ascending Path this recognition for Chattanooga’s public art wouldn’t be possible,” said Mayor Ron Littlefield. “In addition, the Public Art Committee did an outstanding job choosing this piece and I believe it has been placed in a meaningful location in Renaissance Park,” he said.
The sculpture is a 12-foot-tall bridge with trestle and post components and is fabricated in corten steel. The blocks at the foot of the structure are cut in Tennessee stone.
Seven cast silicon bronze figures are approximately 24 to 30 inches tall and represent visual relationships to the Trail of Tears, the African-American garrisons, the migration of freed black refugees to Camp Contraband, and the distant Lookout Mountain peak.
In the artists’ words, “Weary travelers move across the land upon manmade structures that rise above our reach but in our view. Many peoples have traversed this site going west; some by choice, some by force, and others in fear. This crossing holds the spirits of silent travelers.”
Commissioned by the Tonya Memorial Foundation, the artist team of Aaron Hussey and Brad Bourgoyne were selected by a 15-member panel including representatives from the Tonya Memorial Foundation, the Public Art Committee, and local artists.
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