KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The resurgence of downtown Knoxville continues as students from area high schools unite to design a mural that will be permanently displayed this month on the corner of Union and Gay streets.
On April 28, students representing Austin East, West, Fulton and Central high schools met at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center to learn about their mission to bring Knoxville's heritage to life on the side of a downtown building. After a meet and greet, a 90-minute trolley tour and history lesson of downtown by historians Steve Cotham and Bob Booker, students were invited back to Beck to sketch a vision for the mural under the guidance of local artist, Kathy Brown.
The inspired design will hang on the west wall of the AMSouth Building across from Krutch Park at an unveiling ceremony on May 25 at 5:30 p.m.
The genesis of this project was the developed by men and women representing Leadership Knoxville's class of 2007. "The making of this mural brings Knoxville's next leaders together to articulate their shared values and collective aspirations for Knoxville's future," said class member Renata Soto.
"The goal of our project is to contribute a work of public art to Knoxville's urban landscape that will give its young creators and all Knoxvilleans a permanent visual metaphor of what people can accomplish when they come together for a common goal. My fellow classmates Carey Archer, Steve Arnett, Kitty Hatcher, Gus Paidousis, Annette Lindstrom, Avon Rollins, and I are proud to help inspire this kind of leadership development through public art."
