It’s Summertime on Glass Street!

Summertime has been in full swing on Glass Street, and we want to tell you about all the fun activities going on around here! From designing and painting murals to place around the neighborhood with Magic Markers Teens to constructing a video game, set right here in East Chattanooga, with Mozilla Haunt camp, there have been many opportunities for youth to participate in various types of activities this summer! Read below for a full list of all the summer activities:

Urban Art Bike Camp: Art 120, a non-profit organization set out to teach kids appropriate welding and design skills to create a unique art bike to ride during our upcoming Glass Street LIVE parade. The two week camp, run by Kate Warren, was held at the East Chatt YFD Center and created a lot of buzz amongst not only the kids participating in the camp, but also amongst the kids in the neighborhood since they were able to see the progress of the bikes from start to finish. From a ladybug to a red race car swivel bike, each camper was involved in the designing and creating of their pieces from beginning to end. The campers, along with their recently finished bikes, will be able to participate in the Glass Street LIVE Parade on October 8th.

Magic Markers Teens: Mark Making of Chattanooga, an organization started by local artist, Frances McDonald, held its third year of Magic Markers Teens this year. The work readiness program has provided local teens a creative space to come together and create three murals to hang around the neighborhood. These murals are not only aesthetically pleasing to the community, but also provide an important message of hope. During each session, the teens are led by a group of local artists to pick three inspirational and relevant words to create the murals. This final session’s three words were “Growth”, “Develop”, and “Help!”. To learn more about Magic Markers teens, visit the recent article Times Free Press wrote about them here.

Archway Kids: Michele Peterson, local businesswoman, started Archway Kids about a year ago in what is now the Archway building on Glass Street. Every Wednesday night young adults in East Chattanooga gather together to learn various marketing skills from Michele, all while practicing the social and professional skills essential to working and collaborating with others in a business environment. Although Michele believes it is important for these young adults to learn these important skills, this doesn’t mean all work and no play! Just recently Michele and the rest of Archway crew went rafting down the Ocoee River! To learn more about Archway Kids visit their facebook page here.

Mozilla Haunt Camp: We are so excited to announce the launch of the first Mozilla Haunt camp this summer! GHC’s Community Coordinator, Nicole Lewis received a separate grant to run the pilot program, and has been teaching kids in the community the skills to create their own video games. In addition to learning the physical process to creating a video game, the participating youth were challenged to create a game that highlights some of the various problems teens face today in the East Chattanooga community.