2021 AWARD RECIPIENT

Ann Law

When Ann Law and her husband Dr. Bruce Kaplan moved to Chattanooga from New York City in 1991, one of the first things they did was buy an old drapery shop on Dodds Avenue which would become Barking Legs Theater. They believed Chattanooga was ready for a theater presenting avant-garde dance and theater performances and music of diverse genres. It was the beginning of three decades of dedication to the arts in Chattanooga.

Ann received her MA in Dance Education from UNC Greensboro and her BA in Dance from Mills College. She is also a certified Pilates and Kinetic Awareness instructor. She has received many awards including the Distinguished Alumni Award in Dance Education from UNC Greensboro, Tennessee Association of Dance Outstanding Dance Educator, and the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship award. An improvisational dancer, dance educator and arts activist, she is Executive Director of Contemporary Performing Arts of Chattanooga (CoPAC) and Founder of Barking Legs Theater. For the past 28 years, CoPAC at Barking Legs has provided a supportive space to encourage both emerging and established artists, grow thoughtful audiences, and cultivate strong community art activism. Ann also serves on several non-profit boards, both in Chattanooga and New York City.

During her time in Chattanooga, Ann has taught creative movement at Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences, movement for actors at Chattanooga State Community College, and dance at Barking Legs Theater. In 2015, after years of teaching dance, Ann developed and designed Full Circle TAP (Teaching Artists Program) to support artists in their desire and quest to become teaching artists. She designs art education curricula that engage and transform students into critical thinkers capable of social change. Ann believes that by strengthening life skills, communicating, and learning through the creative process, the experience of the arts directly relates to academic achievement.

Whether through CoPAC projects, performances at Barking Legs Theater,
arts education curriculum, or mentoring artists, Ann fosters diverse, new, and transformative arts experiences for everyone. She truly believes that art is essential to our lives. She has been inclusive, embraces novelty and change, and reaches out to all areas of our city.

To Ann, the arts are for everyone in Chattanooga, and she has lived that philosophy ever since she arrived here.

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