Winder Binder Gallery & Bookstore will present the 7th Annual Faux Bridges Art and Literature Festival on Saturday from 12-7 p.m. and Sunday from 12-6 p.m. This open-air event will take place on Chattanooga’s North Shore in the parking lot adjacent to Winder Binder Gallery at 40 Frazier Ave. (one building west of the north end of the Walnut Street Bridge).
Winder Binder will also be hosting a number of book signing events in the gallery over the weekend, including a local history signing on Saturday from 3-5 p.m. and a fiction signing on Sunday from 2-4 p.m.
In conjunction with Faux Bridges, the weekend will also serve as the official grand opening of Chad’s Records @ Winder Binder.
The concept of a festival dedicated primarily, though not exclusively, to Southern Folk Art was conceived in a brainstorming session in early 2006 during a monthly artist meeting at the Winder Binder Gallery. Many self-taught and traditional folk artists felt that Chattanooga needed a dedicated event to showcase local folk talent. A date was set to coincide with AVA’s 4 Bridges Art Festival and local folk artist Michael Jenkins coined the term “Faux” Bridges as a tongue-in-cheek nod to one of the most successful art festivals in the Southeast.
Twenty local and regional artists will be participating in this 7th edition of the festival. Many different media will be on exhibit, including painting, metal work, glass work, sculpture, mixed media assemblage, and printmaking.
The local history book signing on Saturday will include WRCB (Channel 3) personality David Carroll (Chattanooga Radio and Television), Bill Hull, author of six local history books, his latest being Legendary Locals of Chattanooga, Gay Morgan Moore (Chattanooga’s St. Elmo, Chattanooga’s Forest Hills Cemetery) and Jennifer Crutchfield (Chattanooga Landmarks). All will be available to discuss and sign copies of their books.
On Sunday, local young adult sci fi/fantasy author, Poppy Jackson, will be signing copies of her books Imaginary and Rapture. Ms. Jackson wrote the rough draft of her first book at age 13 and was the youngest attendee of the 2011 Meacham Southern Writers Conference.
And finally, after a month of cleaning and organizing, Chad’s Records @ Winder Binder is fully operational with over 10,000 records, CD’s, and DVD’s available. Chad’s has been vinyl nirvana in Chattanooga for 25 years, but it took an unfortunate fire at Chad’s previous building for Winder Binder and Chad’s to combine into one hub of folk art, books and music. Cousins David Smotherman and Chad Bledsoe are delighted how well the two stores have seamlessly merged together in less than a month, officials said. To celebrate the grand opening, Chad’s will conduct drawing for two $50 gift certificates over the weekend.
For more information visit www.fauxbridges.com or www.facebook.com/winderbinder