Kingsport Cultural Arts unveils new downtown public art
A new style of public art can now be found throughout Downtown Kingsport. Art that transforms something ordinary into something eye-catching, while showcasing iconic images from the Model City’s past.
Kingsport Cultural Arts in partnership with the Kingsport Archives has wrapped seven downtown traffic control boxes in vinyl containing images from Kingsport’s past. Each wrap has a QR code you can scan for more information about the featured image.
The location of the boxes and the images featured are as follows:
- Broad and Center: Downtown Kingsport, Church Circle and Main Street.
- Clay and Center: The old public works building.
- Revere and Center: The original Pal’s Sudden Service.
- Clinchfield and Center: The Texas Steer restaurant.
- Press and Clinchfield: The Kingsport Hosiery Mill.
- W. Sullivan and Clay: The Homestead Hotel.
- Press and Clinchfield: The Kingsport Press.
The vinyl wraps were installed in April and are expected to have a three to five-year life span. Cost of the project, including installation, was $4,970. Kingsport funded this project through a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission.
“Public art in Kingsport comes in many forms, from sculptures to murals, to park benches and painted rocks,” said Special Events and Cultural Arts Manager Kristie Leonard. “These wraps are just another way to enhance the overall look of our downtown while sharing a bit of Kingsport’s history with the public.”
For more information about the public art found in Kingsport, visit www.artskingsport.org.
