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Knoxville City Council approves $151,000 downtown mural

"Good art costs a lot of money. I've been surprised at how much it costs as well."

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — A new downtown mural will be painted this fall on the side of the Market Square Parking Garage in downtown Knoxville.

The Knoxville City Council approved its $151,000 funding Tuesday 8-1.

The city has an annual budget of $230,000 for public art, and in the past five years it's funded more than $1 million in projects. 

But is it worth the investment, or could that money be used somewhere else?

It depends who you ask.

The city said the impact of public art is big.

RELATED: City to vote on $150K mural slated for side of Market Square garage

Look around downtown Knoxville, and the public art displays are hard to miss.

"We take a lot of time and pride in selecting this art and where we're gonna place it," said Rick Emmett, Downtown Coordinator for the City of Knoxville.

The art brings in tourists and locals, mainly to downtown, to see these sculptures and murals for themselves.

While there, they spend money at stores and restaurants, helping out the city's economy.

Emmett said there's more coming.

This is the newest mural you'll see going up downtown.

Credit: Addison Karl

It's a design by artist Addison Karl.

"He'll take a couple hundred pictures of Knoxville faces and narrow that down to six that he recreates in the mural," said Liza Zenni, Executive Director of The Arts and Culture Alliance.

Karl was chosen from 40 applicants to paint the side of the garage that faces an alley.

He's not from the area.

"We invited a local artist to do a proposal, but that artist declined to submit," said Zenni.

This mural has a steep price tag at $151,000.

"Well it's a lot of money," said Emmett. "Good art costs a lot of money. I've been surprised at how much it costs as well."

This alley's neighbor on Market Square is Strong Alley, known for its variety of murals.

The city wants to spruce up the unpainted alley to be a destination, too.

Current Collection In addition to the many murals, sculptures, and memorials located throughout the city, the Knoxville Convention Center houses a portion of the city's permanent public art collection, featuring over 40 works of art. The Convention Center is free and open to the public for self-guided tours Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to...

"We want people to come from other places and to take a photo of themselves, and what they're saying is, 'we're in Knoxville, we're here,'" said Zenni.

But many people said they don't notice these art pieces and want the money spent elsewhere.

"That's okay, you don't have to support everything," said Zenni. "Once it gets in to place by the end of this summer, they'll be loving it. They'll be proud of it and they'll be excited about it."

The one council member who voted against the mural's funding wants to see art put in other parts of the city, and not just downtown.

Emmett said the Public Art Committee is looking for new locations every time they meet.

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