There's a spot along the Third Creek Greenway where bicyclists and joggers are pleasantly caught by surprise. As they near a retaining wall close to the Alcoa Highway/Cumberland Avenue exit ramp, across the creek from University Commons, they're greeted with the vibrant colors of a 175-foot-long mural.
The lively mural depicts the reproductive cycle of endangered freshwater mussel species indigenous to the Tennessee River.
Chris Irwin, a Knoxville attorney and environmentalist, helped launch the project, which is funded by grants from the Arizona-based non-profit Center for Biological Diversity and the City of Knoxville's Parks and Recreation Department.
The greenway mural will be officially dedicated at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 10. The public is invited to help celebrate the mural's completion and meet the artists.
Artist Roger Peet created the initial design, then collaborated with fellow artists Noah Greenwald and Tierra Curry to produce the final mural.
When asked how the passersby have been responding to the mural painting, Peet laughed and said, “People walking by have told us it looks better than the graffiti that was here before.”
The Center hired the artists to do the large-scale rendering, part of its nationwide Endangered Species Mural Project.
The Tennessee River is well-known for its freshwater biological diversity, according to the Center. The Third Creek mural will depict the pink mucket, sheep nose and rabbitsfoot mussels, as well as native fishes.
To see other Center for Biological Diversity murals around the country, please click HERE.
“It’s an honor to be one of the few cities to have one of these renderings,” said Lori Goerlich, the City's Greenways Coordinator.
The greenway mural was partially funded by a City Recreation Challenge Grant, awarded each year to non-profit groups wishing to add or upgrade an amenity at a City park or recreation facility. For more details, click here: CHALLENGE GRANTS.
- Communications intern Morgan Herrig
Artist Roger Peet and Greenways Coordinator Lori Goerlich
The 175-foot-long mural is the largest in a national series, part of the Center for Biological Diversity's Endangered Species Mural Project.