I am dreaming of a… mural in downtown Sevierville!

Murals and public art are a great asset to any town or city. DB Photography, some friends and I did a photo shoot a few months ago called “The 10 Most Instagrammable Spots in Downtown Sevierville” and we talked about the popularity of murals in pictures for social media. Here is a link to that story if you missed it:

https://outandaboutinsevierville.com/2017/10/08/the-most-instagram-worthy-spots-in-downtown-sevierville/

Why would a mural be good for our town? Here are some reasons. 

1. Large scale art like murals give a special vitality to a downtown area. 

This is the “What Lifts You” mural by Kelsey Montague in the Gulch neighborhood of Nashville. It incorporates drawings in the wings that are uniquely Nashville and country music. (Can you find the guitars and cowboy hats in the picture.)

This is the line of people waiting to take a picture with the mural. A phenomenon about this piece of art? Every single person looks good in their picture. Check Instagram and do a search with “What Lifts You” to see what I mean. It is special. There are lot of restaurants in this area so it draws a crowd and helps boost their economy.

2. Large scale public art is accessible to anyone. You do not have to go into a museum or building to access it. You can just walk up to it on the street. DB Photography owner, Danyelle Bledsoe, states that we can enjoy the art as just a simple passer by.

3.  The appeal is multi-generational. 

4. Certain kinds of murals and large scale art add a ‘cool’ aspect to photos to post on social media. If you want to draw young people to your area then this will do it. The photo below has been a profile picture on Instagram.

5. Foot traffic = a boost to the economy in that area. We had dinner at a local restaurant and then walked to this area after dinner to take pictures. It was our secondary destination.

 

6.  Murals turn big walls into amazing canvases.

7. Murals and large scale art make wonderful backgrounds for family memories.  (Photo by DB Photography).

8.  Murals and large scale art bring attention to a building or structure. An ordinary parking garage suddenly becomes enchanting.

9.  Murals and public art give photographers and models great backdrops for photos—which, in turn, gives more publicity to that spot in a city. This is a fabulous Senior picture for a local student taken in Knoxville because there are no places like this yet in Sevierville. (Photo by DB Photography).

(Photo credit from Instagram.)

10. Murals and large scale art give important work to artists. Furthermore, they can  leave a positive, lasting impact on that area.

 

 

 

(Photos by DB Photography).

11.  Murals add a special interest visually to an area. Danyelle Bledsoe of DB Photography says that large scale art and murals “lend to motion and movement. They offer a variety of focal points in an image.”

(Photo by DB Photography).

The image above yields different results every time. It is an outstanding piece of public art.

12.  DB Photography owner, Danyelle Bledsoe, says that murals allow us to combine art forms of both paint and photography—all in one place. 

(Photo by DB Photography.)

13.  There is both beauty and power in public art. It gives special character to an ordinary wall. It makes you want to go there and spend time around there.

14. Murals and public art can add atmosphere to celebrations. Happy graduation, Class of 2017. We had a party of 12 for this event so the restaurant benefitted greatly by having these murals easily accessible to our group and by us choosing to celebrate there.

 

 

(Photo from Instagram.)

15. Murals can be decorative, make a statement, or mark an important event. The mural above pays homage to the musical history of Knoxville. It can be found on South Gay Street. 

I like the statement made by this artist and mural found in Greenwich Village, New York.

Where would be a good place for a mural in downtown Sevierville? 

 

While wandering downtown for the photo shoot, we came across the perfect place for a mural. It is the wall pictured in the first photo in this story. It is across the street from the drive- thru of the old Sevier County Bank location, just off of Court Avenue. We looked at this wall and thought it would be a perfect place for a mural or public art.

Advantages?  This wall is visible from the street, but not completely. There is a parking lot across the street and it is only yards away from the Dolly Parton Statue—the most popular place downtown. It is neutral color and a canvas just waiting for a large scale painting. There are three restaurants, two art studios, and two barbershops within a block of this location. They would all benefit from more foot traffic and visitors downtown.

Here is the picture again.

What would a mural look like there?

With a little imagination, DB Photography gives us some fun ideas to begin with.

Would it look like this?

Or this?

Or this?

Or maybe something completely different. Mountains, native plants, wildlife, or something that captures the great spirit in this area. Whatever the focus, it would surely be decided by the city of Sevierville, with input by the Sevierville Commons Association and the Sevierville Commons Arts Council. But whatever the mural turned out to be, it would surely be special to this area.

With that being said…we are dreaming of a mural in downtown Sevierville!