CHATTANOOGA — Art Creations in Chattanooga was sold to Triyears LLC, a real estate investment firm, for $3.5 million. The building, located directly across from the north end of the Walnut Street Bridge, was formerly operated by the Mines family.
Tony Mines and Linda Moss Mines operated Art Creations. Prior to this, George Little opened the Little Art Shop at 201 Frazier Avenue in 1960. Little's shop sold art supplies and original artwork, and it also offered art classes. Tony Mines worked for Little before taking over the business and renaming it Art Creations.
Mines opened Art Creations at 201 Frazier Ave. at the corner of Forest Avenue in 1973. He had completed three years of military service, including deployment to Vietnam, which concluded in 1973. Following Tony Mines' death, Jason Mines and Jessica Mines assumed leadership of Art Creations.
George Little was born in Ashland, Kentucky, in 1908 and studied art through correspondence courses. He previously worked as a newspaper cartoonist, a sign painter for J.C. Penney, a lobby card artist for theaters, and an art shop owner in Miami. He and his wife moved to Chattanooga in 1953, where he worked for Faulkner Sign Company before opening his own business. Little's paintings were displayed in private residences, government offices, banks, insurance companies, and retail stores.
On November 25, 2023, a vehicle collided with the front of the Art Creations building. Authorities initially expressed concerns about the structural stability of the brick building following the collision.
No independent assessment of Art Creations’s claims was available.