Community Calendar

Join us at the Chattanooga Convention Center on February 28 and March 1, 2026 for the second annual Scenic Stitches Fiber Festival!

- Shop more than 70 vendors for a variety of fiber arts (and other fun things, like flash tattoos!)
- Try something new from our selection of classes for various fiber arts and skill levels
- Play at our interactive stations
- Learn more about that technique you've been curious about at our live demos

Get your tickets at scenicstitches.yapsody.com - prices increase at the door!

Main Gallery: AVA Member Media Exhibit- Jewelry and Adornment

Annual medium specific exhibit for AVA Members only. Highlighting the work of our artists working with hand-made jewelry, wearable art and various fiber arts related to the human body.

Landis Education Gallery: Center for Creative Arts Student Show

Group exhibition highlight work from students enrolled in the Visual Art program at CCA, Chattanooga’s fine arts magnet school.

The Stage: Material Intimacies

Featured installation by Artist Kris Bespalec

Each year 4 Bridges Arts Festival debuts with the highly popular annual Preview Party, Friday April 17, 6-9 PM. A ticketed social event, the Preview Party is a celebration that opens festival weekend and features select wines, signature cocktails, and gourmet hors d’oeuvres. Tickets available through participating sponsors, patron program, or by purchasing an event ticket.

The Association for Visual Arts’ 4 Bridges Arts Festival is returning to the First Horizon Pavilion this April! At this nationally recognized juried art show, guests can enjoy more than 140 visual artists from around the country. Plan a full day out to enjoy shopping with all the artists, and enjoy great local live music and our great selection of local food trucks. Saturday and Sunday, entry is $5 at the gate ($6 if paying with credit card), and children under 18 are free. 4bridgesartsfestival.org

The Association for Visual Arts’ 4 Bridges Arts Festival is returning to the First Horizon Pavilion this April! At this nationally recognized juried art show, guests can enjoy more than 140 visual artists from around the country. Plan a full day out to enjoy shopping with all the artists, and enjoy great local live music and our great selection of local food trucks. Saturday and Sunday, entry is $5 at the gate ($6 if paying with credit card), and children under 18 are free. 4bridgesartsfestival.org

Main Gallery: AVA Member Thematic Show- “Macro/Micro”

Annual multi-media thematic exhibit for AVA Members only. Artists are invited to submit works that play with the idea of scale, whether in size, concept or in subject matter. Think universe vs. particle, big vs small, large format or wide angle lens vs macro lens, tiny art, large scale works, large things made from small components, systems vs units, scope vs scale, etc.

Landis Education Gallery: Overflow for “Macro/Micro”

The Stage: CROSSPOLLINATION - The Language of MIXED-UP Media

Featured installation work created in collaboration by Claire Vassort, Lisa Houser, Dixon Stetler and Cody Havens

Opening Night- Friday, May 1st

Main and Landis Education Galleries: Annual Juried Member Exhibition

Every year, AVA hosts a Juried Show for our Member Artists. Each year a panel of jurors (each an established professional in the visual art field) score and evaluate submissions from AVA’s member artists. This show is a smaller scale group exhibit and helps us determine an artist for our annual Solo Artist Exhibition. The artist whose work receives the highest score from the Jurors is awarded “Best in Show” and will receive a solo exhibition of their work at AVA the following year as well as serving as a juror for the next Juried Show. Jurors are also each asked to select an artist to receive “Juror’s Choice” for automatic inclusion in the exhibition, regardless of score. Those artists are awarded a small group exhibition of their work in the Landis Education Gallery the following year, coinciding with the Best in Show solo exhibition.

Opening Night- Friday, July 3rd

Main Gallery: 2025 Best in Show: Danyelle Woods (Title TBD)

Danyelle Woods received “Best in Show” in the 2025 Annual Juried Exhibition for her work Memory Map I. Danyelle’s work is a combination of known and unknown forms, created with organic materials made by the earth.

Landis Education Gallery: 2025 Juror’s Choices: Jeweli Eslinger, Meredith Olinger and Andy Brooks (Title TBD)

Eslinger, Olinger and Brooks were each selected by the Jury of the 2025 Juried Show as recipients of the “Juror’s Choice Award.” Jeweli Eslinger is an abstract artist working in a street art and graffiti aesthetic. Meredith Olinger is a mixed media artist who works with bold patterns through wallpaper that she designs, create, and prints using both digital and hand-printing along with some collage techniques. Brooks is a photographer who creates abstract, filtered images of mundane, household objects printed at a large scale.

Opening Night- Friday, September 4th

Main and Landis Education Gallery: Annual AVA Member Salon Show

Each year, around the holidays, AVA fills our gallery floor to ceiling with artwork from as many of our Member Artists as we can fit in the space! Based on the public art exhibitions and intellectual social gatherings in France in the 17th-19th centuries, this show is scheduled to coincide with the holidays. It is a perfect opportunity to purchase affordable art from living, local artists for those holiday gifts!

Opening Night- Friday, November 6th