Reuniting Southeastern Native American Art and the Southeastern Landscape
In 2005, Chattanooga received an extraordinary gift. commissioned by the city and sanctioned by tribal leaders, Cherokee artists created a magnificent public art installation on the city’s waterfront. Located at one of the sites of the tribe’s tragic forced removal from this area in 1838, the Passage is a joyous celebration of the historic and living Cherokee culture.
After building a relationship with the artists of Team GaDuGi (Cherokee for “working together”), Bill Shores Frames & Gallery embraced a new mission in 2007: to return these “lost arts” to the southeast, where they began and where they belong.
These works are rich in the historic symbolism of the tribes that once lived in the southeastern region. Far from being relics, the traditional symbols and stories embodied in these pieces are integral parts of tribal cultures that are living and vital today.
Believing that the art and the land are two aspects of one reality, gallery owner Kathy Reed exhibits contemporary works by artists of the Cherokee and other southeastern tribes alongside contemporary paintings and photography of the southeastern landscape.
The Native American work establishes the theme for the gallery, and is supplemented by works by local artists which compliment that theme. Please select the appropriate category to enjoy images of the art itself. (And please be patient while we build those categories for your enjoyment.)