Monday, June 22, 2015

Re: Mural Being Donated, Parks & Rec Location Sought

Hi Roger, 

Happy to hear that!

We have a "Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville" student group at UT-Knoxville that I imagine will be on board to help paint.  And you're right, there will be many other student groups interested from both UT-Knoxville and the Institute of Agriculture.

We actually have a campus tradition of painting "The Rock" at UT-Knoxville so I hope you'll have some time to try your hand at that when you're in town.

I'm going ahead and CC'ing our City Greenways Commission Chair (Brian Hann) and Co-Chair (Chris Cherry) so we can plan to make a motion in support of your art project at our next meeting.

I imagine we'll have a lot of different groups of people excited about this.

Glad we were able to get you connected to our city government leaders - 

Thanks Dawn, Joe, Lori, and David for your interest & support!

-Tanner

On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Dawn Michelle Foster <dmfoster@knoxvilletn.gov> wrote:

Roger,

We are very excited about this opportunity and looking forward to viewing the sketch.

Tanner, "Kudos" for your effort in grasping  the City's attention in providing mural art along one of Knoxville's most utilized greenways.   

 

Looking forward to a great project. 


Best Regards,
Dawn Michelle

 

From: Roger Peet [mailto:toosphexy@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2015 2:53 PM
To: Tanner Jessel
Cc: chris irwin; Lori Goerlich; Joe Walsh; David Brace; Noah Greenwald; Dawn Michelle Foster; Tierra Curry
Subject: Re: Mural Being Donated, Parks & Rec Location Sought

 

Thanks Tanner- it seems, after some discussion on this end, that we will be good to go for this site. We like the size, the location, and the visibility. Since it's quite a large wall, we will likely have a lot of opportunity to invite students of a variety of ages to participate in the painting. I think we'll put this on the schedule for spring next year!

If there is anything further that I can provide at this point, let me know. I will begin work on a sketch.

Thanks for all the work on this!

Roger

On Jun 19, 2015 11:30 AM, "Tanner Jessel" <mountainsol@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Roger,

 

Anecdotally I can tell you a few things about usage on Third Creek Greenway:

 

  • Third Creek Greenway is arguably Knoxville's "Crown Jewel" in the greenway network.  
  • At 4.5 miles long, it is part of 18 miles of continuously connected greenway spanning East to West Knoxville along the Riverfront and through UT-Knoxville campus
  • I walk that trail nearly every day at lunch hour and routinely pass 5 - 10 fellow trail users in the 30 minutes it takes me to walk it
  • I personally believe a mural has the power to attract visitors who might not otherwise visit the greenway / natural area along Third Creek.

 

Some hard data:

Concerning street art:

  • We don't really have "tagging" at this location; it's mostly students who apparently yearn for street art, and draw cartoons, poems, and other doodles.  
  • There was one piece of protest art covered in the most recent regular maintenance. (I have some photos if you're interested)
  • We have an active street art community in Knoxville that is largely respectful of established artistic works / murals
  • As Chris alluded, the Greenway Underpass Mural Project was designed to reduce the incidence of grafitti, and has two clear coats plus a grafitti-resistant top coat
  • In the two years since the 6th Avenue Mural has been installed on First Creek Greenway, the project has had one genuine "tag."
  • We do have 9 uniformed police officers as part of a "Parks and Greenway Patrol Unit" who patrol greenways regularly on bicycles

On a related point, I do have one question / suggestion:

  • I understand your target square footage is 500 square feet.
  • The wall itself is approximately 217 feet long (measured in GIS) by (15?) feet high (guesstimate), or 3,255 square feet overall
  • If additional funds were provided to supplement material cost beyond what the CBD would be willing to donate, would it be possible to cover the entire wall?
  • The length and low profile of the site seems to lend itself well to depicting a linear "bed" of mussels / underwater aquatic scene akin to <http://www.freshwatersillustrated.org/GalleryMain.asp?GalleryID=126631&AKey=3swcg6tc>

 

I believe painting the entirety would discourage graffiti on the entire wall and provide an awesome "panoramic" experience for trail users, akin to a permanent biodiversity IMAX experience fully exploiting the parabolic shape of the retaining wall.

  • Note that The City of Knoxville sets aside money each year to award funds to projects on a competitive basis
  • The Sixth Avenue Greenway Underpass Mural Project covers an area much larger than 500 square feet.
  • Most of the graffiti top coat was actually funded by a Challenge Grant from the City of Knoxville Parks & Rec department.  
  • Director of Public Works David Brace also came out and did some site prep for that project to help with paint adhesion.

 

The time between now and next spring would seem to lend itself to coordinating a project that covers the entire wall.

 

Just a thought.

 

Anyway, glad to see everyone connected. 

 

With this e-mail thread, you're in capable hands, but I'm happy to help if there's anything I can assist with.  

 

For the near term I'll probably pass this latest development on to the City Greenways Commission and we can make a motion in support of the project. 

 

Thanks,

 

Tanner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 12:51 PM, Roger Peet <toosphexy@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all- I've looked at that location and I think that provisionally it's quite a good site! A couple of questions-

Is that a heavily-trafficked path? We're trying to site these murals in locations where they'll be seen by large, diverse group of people.

I see that there are a lot of buffed tags on the wall, and I wonder if the mural might not become rapidly overwritten, as it's in a secluded location. Any thoughts on that?

At this point the mural wouldn't be going on until next spring at the earliest, as we've bboked up most of this year already.

If I can answer any questions, please ask!

Thanks for all of the work on this,

Roger

 

On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Tanner Jessel <mountainsol@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Director Walsh, 

 

That's awesome to hear.

 

There are actually some natural features on the wall that already evoke the natural shell of a freshwater clam.

 

From what I understand, all that is needed for CBD to donate the mural is a site offered up that matches the artist's vision.

 

I believe that wall on Third Creek Greenway might just match the artist's vision (populated neighborhood, popular location, opportunity for quiet reflection).

 

Let me go ahead and tag the artist, Roger Peet, in on this conversation to show him that there's active interest from the City.

 

What's been going on is that as other cities secure sites for CBD / Roger, he goes ahead and schedules time to do the installation.

 

It's really first come, first serve.  Last I heard it might be August or September for Knoxville, assuming we move on donating a site.

 

So, if you all can secure a site he agrees with, then the next step is to simply see what his schedule is amidst all the other installations he's doing this summer. 

 

Roger - you can check out the retaining wall Director of Parks and Recreation Joe Walsh considers to be City of Knoxville property "virtually" at https://goo.gl/maps/6cS4t.

 

This is one of my favorite Greenways in Knoxville with excellent wildlife viewing opportunities - probably the best spot in Knoxville to see abundant aquatic turtles, snakes, amphibians, and waterfowl, and directly connected to the Tennessee River.

 

Thanks,

 

Tanner

 

 

On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 1:26 PM, Joe Walsh <jwalsh@knoxvilletn.gov> wrote:

Tanner, I consider that wall along the Third Creek Trail ours.  I think that would be a good site!  When would the award be made of the CBD?

 

From: Tanner Jessel [mailto:mountainsol@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 11:36 AM
To: Joe Walsh; David Brace; chris irwin
Cc: Lori Goerlich; Dawn Michelle Foster
Subject: Mural Being Donated, Parks & Rec Location Sought

 

Hi Director Walsh and Director Brace,

 

I've been trying to drum up support with the Office of Redevelopment concerning a new mural potentially being donated to Knoxville.

 

The Center for Biological Diversity is donating murals of approx ~500 square feet *free* to a handful of cities across the U.S. to highlight locally important endangered species.

 

Along with Birmingham, Alabama and St. Louis, Missouri, Knoxville Tennessee is on the CBD's "short list" in the South to get a mural.


Birmingham is getting a Watercress Darter; St. Louis is getting the Ozark Hellbender.

 

Knoxville's proposed installation is a type of freshwater pearlymussel (clam). Freshwater clams feature significantly in Knoxville's history, both as a food source for indigenous peoples and later as the foundation of a Southeastern U.S. button industry.  Cormac McCarthy wrote about a Knoxville musseler trawling the Tennessee River in his book "Suttree" set in the 1950s.  The McClung museum has a special exhibit on the animal's role in Knoxville's history.

It's free art and needless to say, great for our city in terms of tourism and civic pride.

 

All we have to do is donate a blank wall to install it.

 

Or it won't happen.

 

Can Parks and Rec and Public Works help secure a site, so we can get this mural for Knoxville?

 

Following on the heels of the Sixth Avenue Greenway Underpass Mural Project, I'm personally enthusiastic about a mural installation on the city's Greenway network.

 

I've identified two spots that might be ideal candidates, given their proximity to Knoxville's most populous neighborhood (Fort Sanders / UT), the popularity of Third Creek Greenway, and the appropriate context of the creekside greenway for the subject matter (freshwater clam). 

  1. University Commons retaining wall (with hopes of one day having a bridge from Third Creek Greenway to University Commons)
  2. Third Creek Greenway retaining wall (adjacent to UT Rugby Fields)

I don't know if the retaining wall on Third Creek is owned by the City or by TDOT.  

 


​

 

This is an important question because if it is owned by the City, then I don't believe we'd need permission from TDOT to install it (unlike the Sixth Avenue Greenway Underpass Mural Project). 

 

Director Brace is probably familiar with the struggle with grafitti at this site; one goal of the Sixth Avenue Greenway Underpass Mural project was to deter graffiti and minimize ongoing maintenance efforts.

 

Along with Chris Irwin, I've been trying to drum up support for an installation site with anyone who will listen since April.

 

I'd greatly appreciate any support we can garner from Parks & Rec. 

 

I think this'd be a "win" for all city departments involved, but especially a "win" for the residents of Knoxville.

 

Here's more about the project and a recently finished example - as you can see it's really compelling visual art.

 

 


​

Can you let me know if the City owns the retaining wall on Third Creek Greenway adjacent to the UT Rugby fields, and if so, whether it might be possible to install a mural this summer, perhaps concurrent with the KUB closure August - September, or if there are other potential installation sites owned by the city?

 

Thanks,

 

Tanner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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