Welcome to the Divison of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy.

This is our newest department in Parks and Outdoors. We are proud to promote Public Art Chattanooga and look foward to brinining MORE to our local parks through the arts, dance, music and culture.

 

Latest CPAC August Minutes.

Amended CPAC Minutes 
To achieve our goal, we are happy to annouce Carmen Davis as the ACC administrator.

“With her extensive knowledge of the local arts community and her demonstrated commitment to community service, Carmen brings a tremendous amount of passion and leadership to the City’s new Division of Culture, Arts, and Creative Economy,” said Mayor Kelly. “As division director, she will play a vital role in integrating art into our public spaces and events, while elevating local artists’ contributions to building and sustaining our community.”

The division’s alignment within the Department of Parks and Outdoors will allow Davis to more quickly scale her efforts to better connect the arts to the community. The new division will be able to leverage the city’s broader infrastructure to support the arts community, through communication resources to grant writing to community engagement assistance.

Davis brings more than two decades of experience in facilitating civic engagement around arts and entertainment, most recently serving as a Program Management Coordinator with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

“Carmen has a real passion for community service—a passion she has used to benefit local non-profits on behalf of BlueCross for seven years,” said Scott Wilson, Vice President of Corporate Communications & Community Relations at BlueCross. “BlueCross will miss her, but I’m excited to watch what she’ll do when she applies her talent and drive to building community through the arts in Chattanooga.”

For over a decade, Davis served as Curator and Program Director for the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, where her work helped position the Bessie Smith as a cultural pillar and vital community space for Chattanooga. She also served on the Hamilton County Human Rights Commission under former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker and on the Entertainment and Attractions Committee for Chattanooga Forward, under former Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke.

Davis has co-founded a number of community-based organizations and projects, all with a common theme of connection and service within Chattanooga and Hamilton County. She remains active in the community, volunteering her time on multiple boards and with multiple local community organizations throughout the city.