If a picture paints a thousand words, then visual arts in Chattanooga would fill a thousand libraries.

The Association for Visual Arts (AVA) marks two decades of transforming our environment through art as well as art transforming the people who behold it, create it and live it.

When Chattanoogans envisioned a renaissance for their city 20 years ago, they returned to the river. Now the banks of the Tennessee River flourish with an aquarium, a children’s museum, a carousel, theaters, walking paths, a newly renovated art museum, and inspirational visual art pieces, exhibits and projects that helped revitalize a dying downtown and made Chattanooga a model for urban revitalization.

In addition to offering more than a dozen programs that include exhibits, collections, education and outreach programs, AVA serves more than 54,000 each year.

AVA also makes a significant economic impact by hosting the annual “4 Bridges Art Festival,” a juried, fine art and craft festival that attracts over 20,000 visitors each year. The Festival is nationally recognized for its initiative in not only promoting the arts, but for becoming another important piece of Chattanooga’s highly successful tourism industry and ingenuity.