‘Through a Lens Darkly’ showcasing black artwork at CHI Memorial | Local News

Chattanooga is home to an array of beautiful artwork and now several pieces are on display at CHI Memorial.

The ‘Through a Lens Darkly’ exhibit is part of the Chattanooga Festivals of Black Arts and Ideas ahead of the city’s Juneteenth celebration. The featured artists at this year’s showcase is CreativeSoul Photography.

Kahran and Regis Bethencourt, a husband and wife team, have been creating art for 15 years.

“She hasn’t hurt me yet,” joked Bethencourt.

Their style of photography is Afro-Art. They started this style when they were working as photographers in the fashion industry and children with natural curly and kinky hair would come in for headshots with their hair straightened.

“Because the parents thought that’s what they needed to do to get their kid into the industry. So, we really just started to showcase kids with natural hair looking fashionably and it really morphed into the life of its own,” said Bethencourt.

The Bethencourts now have 16 pictures hanging on the walls of CHI Memorial as a part of the Chattanooga Festivals of Black Arts and Ideas, which showcases themes of Afrocentrism and preserving African heritage.

“You’ll see kids that have unique features like vitiligo or albinism. We really just ranched the spectrum of kids around the world,” said Bethencourt.

Chyela Rowe, manager of Arts Therapy and Well Being at CHI Memorial, says art helps patients with general well-being, those suffering from strokes and brain injuries and a range of other health-related issues.

“If you could’ve been videoing while we were installing this show you would’ve seen every person walk by and their “ohh” and “oh, my goodness” and it just means so much,” said Rowe.

She said the exhibit is part of their mission to reflect back the people in the community, sharing that one of models in the exhibit is a Chattanooga native.

“We want to normalize the beauty our children. And so we really just want them to feel confident and empowered,” said the Bethencourts.

The photos will be up for a month for guests to view them and even purchase. A portion of the proceeds will go toward CHI’s Arts Therapy and Well-Being program, which is free to patients at the hospital.

There will be a reception on Thursday at 6:00PM at CHI Memorial’s entry B, where you can hear from the artists and view their artwork.

The Chattanooga Festivals of Black Art and Ideas has several events happening throughout June that you can learn more about online.