Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Wayne White’s puppets crash Glass Street Live block party. SATURDAY
Food, fun, a parade and
Oh, how things might have been different if Confederate Gen Patrick Cleburne had actually been 14 feet all when he was leading troops during the Civil War.
He’ll be every bit that big on Saturday Sept. 24, as part of the block party to celebrat nooga area and the Glass Street Collective the agency committed the community through art and activities
Artist Wayne Whit a Chattanoogan who earned fame — three Emmy Awards for his design w Playhouse,” among ot designed work on “Pee-wee’s oversize puppets of Cleburne and Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman for the event. “I promise you these are the world’s tallatrick est puppets depicting Patrick Cleburne and Tecumseh Sherman,” White says
White is creating the puppets as part o Wayne-O-Rama, a year long collaboration with several arts and education organizations in the county. This is the first of those events that will inv and artists working toge from musical events to
White says the idea for doing something involving the Civil War came from folks at Glass Street Collective, situated on one end of Missionary Ridge, which played a key role in the war. The generals will be animated by pupe peteers during a parade from Glass Street to the newly reopened Sherman Reservaaway tion a couple of blocks away “I was going to do something with a Civil War theme, and both of those gener als are very striking,” White says
The puppets, each which will require of four people to animate them, are owned by the collective. They will nooga at the newly opened Wayne O Rama space on Rossville Avenue will be used
for future events. They are also for sale, though they won’t be available until the end of the year, says Glass House Collective Executive Director Teal Thibaud.
White says the puppets are made of “all locally grown bamboo and locally Dumpster-harvested cardboard, fabric and hot glue.”
White says Wayne-O-Rama is a dream come true for him as all the events involve his hometown, art, history and tourist attractions.
“Every artist is inspired by their history, and I like mine,” he says. “To have an installation be up for so long is a great thrill. I’ve always wanted to be a Chattanooga tourist attraction. Tourism was a huge influence to me. It was my first inspiration for art.”
Thibaud says the day will be all about puppets, and visitors of all ages will get to make their own. There also will be food trucks, bounce games, pop- up live art, murals and music curated by Jazzanooga. The Cleburne and Sherman puppets will be part of a “puppet meet and greet” around 12:30 p.m. and will be at Sherman Reservation the rest of the day.
“Our goal is to bring life back to Glass Street and Glass Street back to life,” Thibaud says. “We have a block party once a year at least, and with Wayne doing what he’s doing and the park reopening, it all kind of fits well together.”
The park reopening is Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park’s official introduction of a new trail connection from the 73rd Pennsylvania Reservation on Glass Street to the Sherman Reservation on Lightfoot Mill Road. Ceremonies will start at 12:30 p.m. at the entrance to Sherman Reservation.
The parade will begin at Sunny Town Supermarket, 2300 Dodson Ave., head down Glass Street to North Chamberlain Avenue.
“I promise you these are the world’s tallest puppets depicting Patrick Cleburne and Tecumseh Sherman.” WAYNE WHITE