News › Headlines

Painting Begins on “Everywhere You Look, UT” Mural in Tipton County

Category: Headlines

The UT System Mural in Sharon, TN gets painted by artist Troy Freeman

KNOXVILLE—The University of Tennessee System is on a mission to paint the state orange with its “Everywhere You Look, UT” campaign.

Beginning today, Covington in Tipton County will become home to UT’s 19th mural and the highest one to date as it stands 125 feet above the town.

The 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, 18 murals have been completed in Cumberland, Fentress, Gibson, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Houston, Knox, Lincoln, Meigs, Roane, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Trousdale, Weakley, Dyer and Crockett 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 19th mural will find a home in Covington on a 125-foot-high water tower located in Covington’s Historic Depot District. This historic water tower is situated on property that once was home to the Federal Cotton Compress and Warehouse and owned today by Green Family Materials.

According to Tipton County Executive Jeff Huffman, the water tower is no longer in operation, but was once used to provide water for fire protection. The water tower is adjacent to a historic passenger railroad station that is being restored and repurposed to serve as the new home of the UT/TSU Tipton County Extension Office.

“The tower has been a great example of ‘visual pollution’ and stands out prominently on Liberty Street as you enter Covington. This mural project promotes our land grant university, takes a blighted structure and turns it into a positive community asset, promotes the fine arts through mural painting and provides a great landmark for Tipton County’s new UT Ag Extension facility,” Huffman said. “Both the water tower and the old depot building will become positive community assets for years to come.”

When completed, the 15-foot-tall mural on East Liberty Avenue will be seen by an estimated 24,000 passersby each day and be visible from U.S. Highway 51.

To learn more about the campaign, each location and to nominate a canvas for use, 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.

Contacts

Melissa Tindell
mtindell@tennessee.edu
865-974-0741

Jennifer Sicking
jsicking@tennessee.edu
865-974-5179

Tags: ,

Category: Headlines