KNOXVILLE— The University of Tennessee System is on a mission to paint the state orange with its “Everywhere You Look, UT” campaign.
Beginning this weekend, Dyersburg in Dyer County will become home to the 17th mural and Fruitvale in Crockett County will showcase the 18th mural of the campaign.
UT System has a goal to paint a mural in 95 counties across Tennessee to remind travelers of UT’s statewide presence. Since the campaign’s launch in 2018, 16 murals have been completed in Cumberland, Fentress, Gibson, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Houston, Knox, Lincoln, Meigs, Roane, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Trousdale and Weakley counties.
“These new murals serve as great reminders of the far-reaching impact UT has on our great state,” UT President Randy Boyd said. “From west to east, UT really is everywhere you look.”
The 17th mural will find a home on a storage barn owned by Brad and Vickie Studard, and their sons Will and Luke, in Dyersburg. Luke graduated from UT Martin in 2017 with an engineering degree, and Will graduated from UT Martin this year with a degree in agricultural business/management. Their aunt, Janet Fowlkes, also graduated from UT Martin in 1980.
“When I saw the mural in Weakley County on the grain bin, it wasn’t just an advertisement for UT, but really showed what UT is all about,” Will said. “Coming from an agricultural background and seeing the mural on a grain bin really caught my attention, it shows a little bit of how involved UT is in the agriculture community.”
When completed, the 90-foot Dyersburg mural will be seen by an estimated 11,676 travelers each day and visible from I-155 East and State Route 182. It is located at 3000 Lenox Nauvoo Road in Dyersburg.
The 18th mural in Fruitvale will find a home on the J.O. Boyd General Merchandise Store, owned by Myrtle Emerson, who is related to UT President Randy Boyd.
When completed, the 45-foot mural will be seen by an estimated 500 travelers each day at 5 Fruitvale Road in Fruitvale.
To learn more about the campaign, each location and to nominate a canvas, visit https://everywhere.tennessee.edu/murals/.
The University of Tennessee is a statewide system of higher education with campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Pulaski, Martin and Memphis; the UT Space Institute in Tullahoma; the UT Institute of Agriculture with a presence in every Tennessee county; and the statewide Institute for Public Service. The UT system manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its UT-Battelle partnership; enrolls about 50,000 students statewide; produces about 12,000 new graduates every year; and represents more than 400,000 alumni around the world.