The addition of 10 new murals along the outside of EPB’s 10th Street Substation brings the number of paintings to 30 as year three of the four-year project to adorn the entire enclosure ends.
Created by 10 local artists, this year’s murals honor the history, heritage and significance of downtown Chattanooga’s Martin Luther King Boulevard neighborhood.
The new murals cover the northeast facing wall of the substation between Foster Street and East Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The artists who completed the murals all live or work in EPB’s service territory and include:
• Jonathan Bidwell, “Write Traditions”
• Lexi D’Ambrosio, “The Foundation of a King-dom”
• Laura Swift Dahlke, “Faith”
• Mason Elmore, “The Nine Through Time”
• Karen Estes, “Love and Resilience”
• Jerome Foster, “Time to Shine on the Big Nine”
• Jody Harris, “Seismic Traditions”
• Ann Jackson, “Children are the Future”
• Caitlin Maupin, “Only Light Can Do That”
• Olivia Reckert, “Garden on Light”
Foster’s mural hearkens back to MLK Boulevard’s origins as 9th Street, when locals referred to it as the “Big 9.” A large diamond-encrusted “9,” which represents the community’s value as a jewel for black entrepreneurs, embellishes the mural.
“This area was an entrepreneurial hot spot for African Americans,” Foster says. “This was where Black musicians and singers were allowed to express their talents. Ninth Street was the Harlem of Tennessee at one point.”
EPB’s four-year project continues with the support of several community partners, including ArtsBuild, the Association of Visual Arts, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Public Art Chattanooga, the Chatt Foundation, the MLK Neighborhood Association, Memo’s Grill, RISE Chattanooga, River City Company, Stove Works, Hunter Art Museum, the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.
Several community organizations participated in this year’s application and selection process, which followed an anonymized judging process to select works based on their submission’s artistic value, community reflection and relevance to the theme.
Participating organizations included ArtsBuild, the Association of Visual Arts, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Public Art Chattanooga, the Chatt Foundation, the MLK Neighborhood Association, Memo’s Grill, River City Company, Stove Works, Hunter Art Museum, the Urban League and UTC.
This year’s dedication completes the third side of the 10th Street Substation. EPB will invite submissions for public murals for the fourth and final side of the substation in late 2023.