EPB buildings along McCallie Avenue became a blank canvas for a series of murals this year. The project turned the street into Chattanooga’s first “drive-through” gallery.
EPB buildings along McCallie Avenue became a blank canvas for a series of murals this year. The project turned the street into Chattanooga’s first “drive-through” gallery.
Chattanooga transplant Kevin Bate has painted large scale murals on the sides of buildings from the North Shore to MLK Boulevard, from Tremont Avenue to Track 29.
But when he first conceived of a grand scale, multiple-building art project, he saw McCallie Avenue as an amazing opportunity to give back to the community. Using public art to change perception of a neighborhood, showing that the arts truly are for everyone.
McCallie Avenue is perhaps best known as a high speed shortcut between downtown and East Brainerd; more than 13,000 cars drive past our buildings every year. We could see the potential of this project for enhancing the quality of life for the neighborhood, so we were delighted to offer our walls.
Our employees pitched in on creation of the murals, under the creative direction of the artists. We helped prep the walls, mix materials, and even do the actual painting.
This is a very different kind of community involvement for us, bringing together our engineering company with arts advocates including MakeWork, Arts Build, the UnFoundation, Causeway, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. R&B superstar Usher, a Chattanooga native, even posted about the project on his Twitter!
All in service of helping to beautify and transform a streetfront. We hope that now, as those thousands of cars pass the McCallie Walls Project, they will slow down, enjoy the view, and appreciate the neighborhood as never before.