New Mural Installed on Ten Mile Creek Greenway in Knox County

Curtis Glover is working on a mural along the Ten Mile Greenway at North Gallaher View and Broome roads. He should finish by the weekend. pic.twitter.com/PW9897LQCF

— Knox Co. Parks & Rec (@knoxcountyparks) March 29, 2017

Re: Mural Being Donated, Parks & Rec Location Sought

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

Crosswalk Art for Historic Edgewood / Park City

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the info... I somewhat expected that'd be the case.

Glad to hear we're getting "continental" style (I really like the term "Zebra" better!) since I've read they are safest and I personally *feel* more visible when crossing them.

The reason I'm thinking of this is I just saw an article showing where an artist creates stencils to transform bare concrete into a kind of tiled mosaic using paint:

http://www.boredpanda.com/graffiti-spray-paint-tile-pattern-floor-installations-javier-de-riba/

My neighborhood is always looking for new public art opportunities, and really when I ask about feasibility, beyond "non-traditional" installations, I'm wondering if you happen to know if there'd be a legal problem with adding street art to the new crosswalks?

I mean, other than securing permission, and the logistic problems related to putting art in.

The "stencil" approach would seem to help with that hurdle, though:

I'm opportunistically thinking of the possibility of adding "folk art" street art as some kind of decorative flourish while the workers add the MUTCD compliant crosswalk, to take advantage of the street closure.

On a related note:

I saw you've been busy with a curb cut for the First Creek Greenway at 6th Avenue.

Thanks for that.

I imagine it must be related to making progress on the Upper & Lower First Creek Greenway connections that you & Brian have talked about.

Are you planning to put a crosswalk there?


You mentioned that Greenways get "diagonal" versions - if you have any freedom to do something different, it might be fun to try it out to make some kind of an artistic "printed" path to indicate the greenway route.

This one is really interesting to me:

http://roadsworth.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Sardines_mercado4_for-web-1237x500.jpg

It'd be cool if people could "follow the yellow fish road" from Upper to Lower First Creek Greenway.






The artist who did it actually does commissioned installations for municipalities:

Peter Gibson, aka "Roadsworth."

You make a good point about funding sources.

If there are not any legal hurdles concerning "special case" crosswalks or adorning "MUTCD compliant" crosswalks, I think I'd like to bring up crosswalk art opportunities with the Public Arts Commission.

I'm sure a first question would be: is this legal?

From the street art the Health Department did at Inskip Elementary School, I can see that students did add color to the interior of the "continental" style.

But, I can also imagine that it's possible this wasn't exactly "safety enhancing."

If you can share any thoughts on what's possible / legal, I'd appreciate it.

For this project, the palette was limited to official "traffic marking paint" of red, blue, and gold with textured grip.  I note that the blue / gold is what the artist used for his "fish" stencils, so that's encouraging, at least.




I'm envisioning something  outside of whatever the city installs, like a stenciled, colorful border, evoking the concept of a "woodblock print" or tiled surface.

Thanks,

Tanner