Newest mural dedicated depicting history of Elizabethton
Published 4:51 pm Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders/Elizabethton Water Resources General Manager Jonathan Pleasant addresses those in attendance. Pleasant had a vision for the new mural project.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders/Jonathan Pleasant, Courtney Bean, and artist Caitlin Maupin join members of the community art team in front of their panel.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders/Members of the Elizabethton City Council and Main Street Elizabethton were present for the dedication. Pictured from left to right are: Jonathan Pleasant - GM Water Resources, Logan Engle- Asst. City Manager, Councilman Michael Simerly, Kristen Cannon - Main Street Design Committee Chair, Mayor Pro-Tem Bill Carter, Courtney Bean - Main Street Elizabethton Director, City Manager Daniel Estes, and Councilman Jeff Treadway.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders /Members of the community art team were present as they proudly displayed their work.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders/After the dedication, friends and family got a closer look at the murals.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders/A large group was present for the dedication of the History in the Making Community Mural.
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
Nearly one hundred people showed up at the City of Elizabethton’s Ice House storage building as the newest mural was dedicated as the History in the Making Community Mural marked its completion.
Members of the City of Elizabethton City Council, Main Street Elizabethton, along with lead artist Caitlin Maupin and members of the community who volunteered on the project were in attendance for the dedication ceremony.
The mural was spearheaded by Elizabethton Water Resources General Manager Jonathan Pleasant, who visualized the mural while sitting in a Council meeting looking out the window at the side of the former Floyd Storie Roofing building.
“I had seen a very similar mural project put together in Mountain City on the Farmer’s State Bank building which was in a similar situation where they had some older windows that they were using panels in,” said Pleasant.
“When I looked over here from the Council meeting and saw the glass that was broken and the building didn’t look that good at that point, but I got to looking and there was a school behind it (Harold McCormick Elementary) and all the downtown businesses nearby and I got to thinking that we might be able to pull something off here in Elizabethton similar to that project in Mountain City.”
Pleasant began to talk to others and upon talking with Courtney Bean, Main Street Elizabethton Director, the two began to formulate the project.
The artist who completed the Mountain City project, Christy Dunn, was contacted and a meeting was set up to get some ideas for the new project and began to put together a plan.
“My background was in history and we wanted to focus on history,” said Pleasant. “It was really interesting to see something from concept to completion and it has been very gratifying.”
Bean, who Pleasant referred to as the glue that kept the project together, spoke about how the project pulled the community together.
“What is really neat about this project is that our community mural team is made up of 18 individuals from third grade to adulthood,” said Bean.
“What is really beautiful is that they were divided up into six groups, but for three sessions we were all together learning about history, talking about art, talking about this project and then they were divided up into different centuries and then they were able to work on their specific panel and what they wanted to paint.”
The public is invited to go by and view the panels and enjoy the work as the city continues to expand more and more using art to tell its history.
Another new mural has just received a grant and will begin in the near future.
