For watercolor artist Arline Mann, painting is more than capturing a scene — it’s preserving a sense of place, history, and light. Inspired by 19th-century masters such as Anders Zorn and Christen Købke, she creates luminous interiors, intimate still lifes, and landscapes that radiate quiet atmosphere.
Her latest muse is her own home — a remarkable 1920s stone house perched on Elder Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Built by George Elder from wood and stone found on his land, the house stretches along the mountain’s brow, anchored by its iconic water tower. Elder enjoyed it only briefly before his death in 1926, but the structure has remained untouched by modernization through its few owners.
“The Forever House” exhibition brings into a loving light a magical place—Elder Mountain (near Chattanooga), and the stone house built on the mountain around 1923 by George Elder with materials from that mountain—the first home erected there after the Cherokee were marched out in the 1840s on the Trail of Tears.
Mann and her husband, Bob Katz, are the home’s fourth stewards. “The Elder House isn’t just a home; it’s a storybook of craftsmanship and the spirit of those who lived there,” she says. “The wonder of it — those are the same feelings I want to project in my paintings.”
That sense of reverence is on view in “Arline Mann: The Forever House,” her first museum exhibition at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center in Clarksville, Tennessee. Featuring 13 watercolors paired with historic photographs of Elder Mountain, the show invites viewers into a world where stone, light, and memory merge.
Working in graphite underdrawings softened by translucent washes, Mann builds up atmosphere that feels both timeless and deeply personal — offering viewers a nostalgic glimpse into a place most will never see in person. And for Mann, it’s truly a forever house — one she and her family intend to cherish for years to come.
“Arline Mann: The Forever House” is on display at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center in Clarksville, Tennessee, through October 26, 2025.
