Hunter Museum of American Art

By Rob Kret

I recently attended the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) national conference that was held in Chattanooga in early September. We were thrilled to welcome arts colleagues from around the country and to show off the Hunter and all that Chattanooga has to offer.

As with most conferences, there were lectures, presentations, evening events and lunches. Rich Boyd and the Tennessee Arts Commission were hosts for the event and played an important role to ensure there was an infusion of the arts throughout the three-day conference. Participants were able to see and experience the Hunter, and hear a variety of musical performances by the Chattanooga Boys Choir, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and the Dismembered Tennesseans to name just a few. However, it was the performance by Abby Burke that really caught my attention.

Several hundred people were making their way to lunch on Friday and, like most of the crowd, I was involved in a conversation while music played in the background. After a few songs, before lunch was served, Rich Boyd made his way to the podium to introduce Abby Burke. He commented that some people in the audience were listening, but most, like me were paying more attention to having a conversation. He kindly suggested that it was time to listen and introduced Ms. Burke.

She sang "Dixie" and spoke between stanzas about her grandfather. She told us her story through this performance and you could have heard a pin drop in the banquet hall. She talked about growing up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and singing Dixie at her audition at the Grand Ole Opry decades ago. We learned that her grandfather was born in Macon, Georgia in 1880 and moved north in 1900 to avoid racism and bigotry and that he sang Dixie to his grandchildren as a lullaby. She talked about how the song made her feel and how it kept the south close to her grandfather’s heart. It was a moving performance and wonderful example of how the arts can touch our emotions and help us to better understand what it is to be human.

As I reflect on that experience, I am reminded that similar opportunities are possible at the Hunter. Just like the song, "Dixie," was for Ms. Burke, the artwork in the galleries can serve as a vehicle for you to have a conversation with a friend or member of your family. Experiencing the galleries with someone is a chance to have a conversation, to tell stories, to learn something that you didn’t know, to make connections and--if you are lucky--to be a bit different from what you were when you first arrived.