By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.—A large crowd braved the morning heat Monday for the dedication and ribbon-cutting of the newest mural in downtown Paris.
The mural–researched, designed and illustrated by Paris Artist Dan Knowles with help from his apprentice Ariel MacDonald, a student at Henry County High School–depicts the evolution and importance of the Tennessee Valley Authority to the local region.
The mural is in the east downtown alley right next to the Paris Board of Public Utilities (BPU), which is appropriate since BPU has been a long-time partner with TVA.
Four distinct periods are represented in the mural: the area before electricity, the coming of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the time of the first major usages of electrical power locally and the present time. The panel depicting modern times shows a number of people from the area including local barber Jerry Maddox, long-time BPU Employee George Combs Jr., Musician Evan Dodd, BPU Marketing Director Meagan Hart, Downtown Paris Association Executive Director Kathy Ray, long-time City Councilman Sam Tharpe, former Governor Ned Ray McWherter, BPU Employee Josh Wooten playing some pool at Jack’s Pool Room, Bill McCutcheon and Evonne Williams of the P-I (as well as WENK/WTPR News Director Shannon McFarlin).
Knowles described the stages of the mural during the ceremonies, noting that MacDonald worked 100 hours on it. “I’m real proud of her,” he said.
Paris City Manager Kim Foster noted that the TVA is “an incredibly important part of the community. We can’t begin to state how important this partnership is with the city of Paris.”
BPU General Manager Terry Wimberley said, “We’re happy to be a part of this and proud to have the mural right here.”
The next part of the Back Alley Paris project will be the creation of a mural on the downtown north alley which will be dedicated to Dr. E.W. Grove and his importance to Paris and Henry County.
Ray thanked the Tennessee Arts Commission for its partnership and grants which have produced the Back Alley Paris, which now includes several murals in downtown Paris that depict local history.
Photo: Artist Dan Knowles and his apprentice Ariel MacDonald, Terry Wimberley of BPU and Rachel Terrell of TVA do the honors at the ribbon-cutting. (Shannon McFarlin photo)
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