Art shows, plays, holiday photo sessions among Chattanooga-area events this weekend

Three Chattanooga art galleries are showcasing new exhibits, two local theater companies will open plays and a historic venue is open for holiday photographs this weekend. Here’s what to know.

* Tennessee Watercolor Society’s 37th Juried Exhibition will open Oct. 2 at the Association for Visual Arts Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. Thirty award-winning paintings are part of the traveling exhibition, intended to share the state’s best watermedia paintings with a wider audience. The exhibit will remain on view through Nov. 6.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, there will be no reception. Masks are required to enter the gallery, and no more than 10 will be allowed in at a time. Gallery hours are noon-5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. For more information visit avarts.org or tnws.org.

* Reflections Gallery, 1635 Rossville Ave., will host a “social but safe” first Friday open house on Oct. 2. This is the first such monthly event since early in the year.

“Though things will still be a little different, we have planned to make this event fun for everyone while still being cautious in our COVID reality,” organizers said in a news release.

Special guest will be Lush Chattanooga owner Michael Brown, a landscape architect whose botanical expertise extends to living plant sculptures. He will have several of his artistic creations for sale.

Refreshments will not be served, but coupons will be available for $5 margaritas at neighboring Taqueria Jalisco. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/events/2726102787646328/.

* Arts at Erlanger will put its new “Golden Hour” exhibition online for viewing Oct. 2-Jan. 6. The works are hanging at Erlanger Baroness Hospital, but the gallery corridor is closed to all but hospital staff, patients and approved visitors due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The collection of paintings and photographs is named for the golden lighting that occurs the first hour after dawn and the last hour before sunset. Cypress lakes, sunset beaches, towering trees and cloudy skies are among the subjects. View the works online at erlanger.org/artsaterlanger or on Erlanger Health System’s social-media pages.

* Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St., will stage “Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years” Oct. 2-18. The two-person play by Emily Mann is adapted from a best-selling book about two civil-rights pioneers who were born in the 19th century to a former slave. Their oral history begins in Reconstruction and progresses through the rise of Jim Crow, two world wars, the triumphs of Black culture during the Harlem Renaissance and the women’s and civil-rights movements.

Show times are at 8 p.m. Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $5-$25. To reserve, call the box office at 423-267-8534 (open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday) or visit theatrecentre.com. The website also lists safety precautions that will be in place for this first play of the condensed season.

* Exposure Productions presents “Southern Exposure” the next two weekends at McCoy Farm and Gardens, 1604 Taft Highway, Signal Mountain. Written by Chattanooga poet and playwright Peggy Douglas, the two-act production features a series of monologues inspired by life in Chattanooga in the 1950s and ’60s along with music from the era.

Performances will take place outdoors. Chairs will be provided. No concessions will be available, but attendees may bring their own snacks and nonalcoholic beverages. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2-3, 9-10. Tickets are $12-$15. Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/Southern-Exposure-135423514926187.

* The Tivoli Theatre’s lobby, grand staircase and stage will be used as a backdrop for professionally made family holiday photos on Oct. 3. The package includes six photographs shot and edited by Tivoli Theatre Foundation house photographer Christian Stewart (featured in Rolling Stone), a digital gallery of the photos, a commemorative ornament, four Tivoli movie passes, a $50 concessions voucher for an upcoming event and a letter from Santa.

Participants will be screened before entry and must wear masks when not being photographed.

Sessions are scheduled every 30 minutes and cost $500 for up to six participants from a single household. To schedule a time, email marketing manager Rachel Eagleton at [email protected].

Email Lisa Denton at [email protected].