By David Laprad
If home is where the heart is, then a nonprofit theater company named Noogavision resides in Chattanooga’s economically distressed areas, as that is where its heart lies.
Unlike the Chattanooga Theater Centre, which enjoys a permanent stage in a building on the city’s North Shore, Noogavision (noogavisiontheater.org) has no space of its own. Rather, in the grand tradition of touring theaters, the members of Noogavision have become adept at activating what founder Fallon Clark calls Chattanooga’s “opportunity zones” for its performances.
For example, Noogavision held its debut production of “LUCE: A Dramatic Stage Play,” which addresses race, trust and privilege, at Barking Legs Theater. And the company recently performed American playwright Ntozake Shange’s “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf” at the Chattanooga Civic Center at Mountainside in Alton Park.
Noogavision made its home in these and other unfilled pockets of the city because that’s where it hopes to galvanize change, clarifies Clark.
“Our mission is to empower communities through the arts. While we encompass all of the traditional components of theater, we also recognize theater as a tool and a conduit for individual transformation.”
Noogavision follows more than a single guiding star as it serves Chattanooga but a constellation that forms a picture of disparity. The individual stars that form this web include arts education, mental heath awareness and equity and education for artists.
This mission had its genesis during a brainstorming session at the Moxy Chattanooga Downtown hotel in 2022 that involved many local performing artists. Clark says the group narrowed its focus down to three areas of concern: providing arts education to youth who have little to no access to the arts, producing shows that bring awareness to mental health, and reducing the earning gap between artists and producers.
Shange’s “for colored girls” served as the first installation of Noogavision’s mental health awareness theater series. Through poetic monologues, dance movements and music, the 1976 work tells the stories of seven women who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society.
Behavioral specialists, social emotional learning coaches, a drama therapist and more followed each performance with an open discussion, Clark reports. Audience members included students and school administrators from Brainerd High School, The Howard School and Tyner Academy. (Each school received 10 tickets for students to attend.)
Nearly 300 community members viewed “LUCE” over the span of four full shows and one staged reading. Of these, Noogavision connected seven families to a mental health professional and assisted one mother with forming a single parent support group.
Although Clark founded Noogavision in 2022, her roots as a performing artist go deeper in time. Originally from Milan, Tennessee, Clark is a lead talent acquisition specialist for Airgas USA, an Atlanta-based distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases.
The ability to work remotely allows Clark to live in the Scenic City, which she’s grown to love, she says. Clark also is a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate and is earning a master’s degree in public administration.
Before taking corporate America seriously, however, Clark was a full-time performing artist.
“From high school theater to local and regional theater to touring with a cover band and appearing in local and regional commercials, I’ve been onstage my entire life,” Clark notes. “I’ve also done film extra work and been featured in national broadcasts on TBN.”
It’s a broad resume that on paper doesn’t reveal Clark’s desire to use art to spur social justice. However, her work with Noogavision in Chattanooga’s disadvantaged neighborhoods brings her aspirations to light.
“Some would not agree that the arts can change the world; however, it’s evident that the arts have the power to shift perceptions and to change the human being who might change the world,” Clark says. “We’re dedicated to being that catalyst for change.”
Like many nonprofits, Noogavision relies on the generosity of people who share its vision for funding. Individual donors, fundraisers and ticket sales provide the bulk of the company’s backing, while the company’s production of “for colored girls” received an ArtsBuild (artsbuild.com) Community Cultural Connections Grant and an UNFoundation (theunfoundation.org) grant.
Clark says she’s just as grateful for the people who contribute their time and talents to Noogavision.
“Getting involved is the biggest way people can help us,” she adds. “We currently need volunteers to serve on our community advisory board and special committees. This is an opportunity to have a say in Noogavision’s planning and programming.”
Clark encourages youth not to be shy. Two Hamilton County Schools students are serving on the nonprofit’s community advisory board and providing an example of how a young voice can have an impact.
“Their knowledge of what’s missing in their schools and communities as it relates to the arts has been invaluable in our planning process,” Clark says. “As they participate, they’re also learning how to conduct business meetings, engage professionally, and collect and present information.”
Volunteers will assist Noogavision’s seven-member core team (which includes Clark, Charles Williams, Nicole Coleman, Bethany Bennett, Dr. Charles Clark Jr., Rick Dave Jr. and Whitney Brazell) as it maps out its immediate future. This includes assisting with the company’s efforts to launch a community drama club that offers learning and performance opportunities for youth and adults.
“We invite people to join us as we collaborate with other local arts organizations and collegiate theater programs to expand our reach in arts education, mental health awareness and artist equity,” says Clark. “Together, we can make a difference.”