Washington County’s UT Mural a By-Product of Love

The University of Tennessee System is bringing its “Everywhere You Look, UT” mural campaign to Tennessee’s oldest settlement, Jonesborough.

Triple S&S Farms Angus Beef will welcome the campaign’s 27th mural to one of its barns—and it won’t be the first UT emblem in the lives of Triple S&S owners Mike and Terri Southerland.

In addition to having already painted their own Power T on their 20-acre farm, the couple may have never met had it not been for the bright orange University of Tennessee, Knoxville, hat Mike wore to a 1983 hot air balloon festival in Greenville, South Carolina.

“If he hadn’t had that orange hat on, I don’t know that I would have said anything to him,” said Terri, who was attending Clemson University at the time.

The Southerland’s, both UTK alumni, have since built a life together rooted in family, agriculture, education and, of course, a whole lot of UT love.

“We’re just so proud to be representing the University of Tennessee,” Mike said. “And I’m going to try to have my best cattle over near that mural.”

The 12-foot-wide Washington County mural will be visible to the 560 daily travelers passing the Southerland’s property. Painting for the mural begins on Wednesday, April 27.

Media interested in scheduling interviews with the family or visiting the mural for photo and video purposes should contact the references below to make arrangements.

Since the campaign’s launch in 2018, 27 murals have been completed in Anderson, Crockett, Cumberland, Dyer, Fentress, Gibson, Giles (two murals), Grainger, Greene, Hardeman, Houston, Knox, Lawrence, Lincoln, Meigs, Morgan, Roane, Shelby, Scott, Sullivan, Sumner, Tipton, Trousdale, Washington, Wayne and Weakley counties.

To learn more about the campaign and its locations, or 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 54,000 students statewide; produces about 13,000 new graduates every year; and represents more than 422,000 alumni around the world.

Tags: Barn, Everywhere You Look UT, Featured, Mural Campaign, Southerland, Washington County