“Murals in particular have the power to successfully create an economic stimulus to depressed areas of a city, bringing revitalization and new investment to the area surrounding a visual landmark. Every mural is an act of visual branding. Is it for the greater good or the bad? The mural artist serves a community well by asking those questions “

THE SPIRIT OF MAIN STREET

Accomplished in 2007 this was the first mural initiated as a creative placemaking project. I pitched the project to public art for funding by appealing to the desired revitalization and development of Main Street. The mural depicts the golden age of Main Street and the pursuit of a new era for flourishing. The couple on the left are the Zar Zours. Owners of The longest established restaurant on the Southside. The buildings are a combination of iconic historic architecture that feature the old YMCA, the church on main and some of the newer buildings being revitalized. The kids marching across the composition are intentionally marching from right to left, harkening back to the golden age. Students from neighboring Battle academy are featured here. During the project I commissioned storyteller, Jim Pfitzer to research local stories specific to Main Street and a local designer Andrew Stewart to assist in the preliminary design. In the process he came across an iconic character that was known to lead the residents to church each Sunday in a top hat and with an eccentric flourish. The factory worker on the right is reminiscent of the historic steel industry that once dominated the southside and the scooter rider the contemporary design professionals that represent a new age of industry.

Main Street Mural.jpg — 12 years later “The Spirit of Main Street looks virtually unchanged as it adorns the new look of Market South restaurant and brewery on West Main St. I always use Nova Color for its premier lightfastness and longevity.

THE FRUITS OF LABOR

Fruits of Labor2.jpg — in 2009 I was blessed to be a finalist for the *Makework* grant for a mural project on Main and Mitchell ave. The design paid homage to the history of Chattanooga from the verdant forested area described by pioneers, to the over polluted repute dubbing it the “Dixie Dynamo” to the transformation into a clean energy city renowned for high speed internet, start up companies, and creative placemaking in action.

THE GLASS STREET MURAL: FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER

Glass Street 6.jpg — In 2013 the Glass House Collective non-profit commissioned me to create an iconic mural in the Glass Street neighborhood that reflected the virtues and values of a historic neighborhood that had deteriorated over time and was in need of hope for a brighter future. I invited one of my favorite collaborators, Rondell Crier, to co-design the project.
This was to date the most gratifying of community projects. The community had serious concerns and a history of poor quality murals and graffiti. Rondell and I met with the community and pitched our designs and listened to their concerns for revisions. Toward the end of the project those same skeptics celebrated with us. Local gang members made a point to come thank us and the owner of the building cried over the resulting connections from the project.

“We Shall Not be Satisfied Until..”

Meg Saligman

MLK mural1.jpg — In 2011 I pitched a second project to public art, aimed at creating a national landmark with artist Meg Saligman. Peggy Townsend, the public art director at the time, spearheaded the project. It took 3 years to secure a location for the project. Once the At&T building was secured the public art committee formally commissioned world renowned mural artist Meg Saligman to engage the MLK community towards developing a theme and design for the project. Furthermore, one of my intentions with the proposal was to train and equip local artists through the project. As such, 6 local artists were selected to work on the project along-side Saligman’s team.

“The M.L. King Mural is a visual depiction of the past, present and future vision for Chattanooga. It is a tribute to the rich culture of the African American community that was long-anchored on M.L. King Boulevard. The mural serves as a significant icon for the city and reinforces the critical role that public art plays in telling the stories of the people and places in our community. This painting is 42,179 ft', the largest mural in the Southeastern U.S. and one of the top 5 largest in the nation. It is the first ever painted mural to wrap an entire city block. The mural required 1 year of planning and research and 6 months of painting. From first sketch to final stroke. the artists averaged 2,400 ft' of painting each week. That is equivalent to completing a 5-story square canvas every 7 days, for 5 months straight. The 20 individuals depicted in the mural are either historic or living people who represent aspects of M.L. King Boulevard and Chattanooga. Over 420 gallons of colored paint, 120 brushes, 5 paint sprayers and 120 yards of acrylic fabric were used to complete the mural. The artists logged over 6,100 hours painting the mural. The team worked in shifts from sun up to sun down, 7 days a week. 565 volunteers from the community helped paint the portraits in the mural on an acrylic cloth using a paint-by-numbers method that was then applied onto the wall.”