Week 40 – #52. Yellow

A local Chattanooga artist, Kevin Bales, had a goal to get people to take another look at long neglected properties by decorating the walls of mostly industrial buildings. To bring his dream to reality, Kevin spent two years raising the funds on the first phase of the project known as “The McCallie Walls Mural Project.” Kevin, along with other local artists, worked together and the concept is Chattanooga’s first drive by art gallery on McCallie Avenue between Holtsclaw Ave. and Holly Street.  The artists were not restricted as to what could be painted on the buildings within those two blocks.  Since inception, the project has expanded to include the walls of buildings on other streets within the city. While in Chattanooga recently, I had a goal to photograph as many of the wall murals as I could find.  Although I photographed in excess of 40, I am certain I did not manage to photograph all of them but because of the vibrant yellow in the one below, I felt it best represented this week’s theme. In the near future, I plan to set up a separate website to display all of the walls I have photographed.

Week 47 – #31. Out Of Control

“If that’s a sign, then I’m a doughnut hole,” was the headline of an article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Friday, June 20, 2014. For 31 years, a building and adjacent Koch Bakery have been owned by a third generation pastry maker who is 81 years old and still working 6 days a week behind the counter of her beloved bakery in Chattanooga, Tennessee. During that time, she lost her husband and two sons while singlehandedly supporting her three grandchildren, to build the most beloved bakery in town. She has sent her grandchildren to college from what she earned at the bakery. Although the dingy building was not physically attached to her bakery, she looked at it every time she pulled into her parking space. “Wouldn’t it be more beautiful,” she thought, “if a mural were painted on it which would turn the old dingy building into art?” Afterall, other murals are painted on various buildings on and around the location. That’s exactly what she did one day when she hired an artist, not a sign painter, to paint it with “flying doughnuts” at a cost of $11,000 out of her own pocket. Everyone admired the new piece of art … except the City government’s sign inspector who walked in one day last week and told her it had to be painted over because, although there was no writing and not attached to her bakery, it was advertisement of her business. This caused quite a stir in the community, who thought the inspector was unreasonable and out of control. In protest, the people of Chattanooga went into the bakery daily to sign a petition to leave the mural in place and to buy doughnuts not only for themselves but for the City Commission meeting scheduled for today, June 24th. At the time we went into the pastry shop last Saturday, over 1,000 signatures were on the petition and 31 dozen doughnuts had already been purchased for delivery to the City Commission meeting. By the time of the meeting today, 54 dozen doughnuts had been purchased and delivered to the City Commission meeting in protest of the City inspector’s decision. At the meeting this evening, the City Attorney suggested that the City Commissioners make a decision to study the sign ordinance more closely and postpone a decision until that is done. Hopefully when this is all said and done, it will be decided to leave the little lady and her mural alone and let her continue directing her attention to making the best doughnuts in town.