project overview
BEARWATER GREENLINE MURAL | Bearwater
Artist: Brandon Marshall
Budget: $60,000 (includes three finalist honoraria of $500 each)
Upcoming benchmark/update: Schematic Design
BACKGROUND
About Bearwater Neighborhood:
Bearwater, a neighborhood in North Memphis, received its name from the frequent sight of bears sipping from a stream of water flowing from the Wolf River stream. During the 1970s and 80s, Bearwater had a booming commercial and retail presence. Bearwater was once filled with multiple convenient stores, barber shops, bars, and lounges along 2nd street. Since much has been done to restore housing development, and currently there are priorities to revitalize the commercial and community spaces for all to enjoy.
About Bearwater Greenline project:
The City of Memphis, Shelby County, and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) completed the Bearwater Greenline project along N 2nd Street in 2023. The path includes a 125-foot lighted tunnel below the entrance to Grind City Brewing. The Greenline project features spacious walkways, an exercise park, and playground. The proposed tunnel
About UAC:
The UrbanArt Commission (UAC) works to create opportunities for artists and neighborhoods to connect and shape spaces through public art. Since 2002, UAC has managed the City of Memphis’s Percent-For-Art Program, which allocates funds annually to develop public art in connection to capital improvement projects. UAC also facilitates public art projects throughout the city working with various partners and clients to support artists and new experiences with art.
Bearwater Greenline
Bearwater Greenline
Bearwater Greenline
Bearwater Greeline
SCOPE OF WORK
The UrbanArt Commission (UAC), Shelby County, and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) are seeking an artist to create a large-scale, exterior mural. The proposed tunnel mural project should feature meaningful art that educates the public and empowers the historical Bearwater community.
The selection committee has expressed interest in an exterior mural that:
Includes Bearwater in large text
Features transportation: Steamboat and Trains (this area was formerly on train tracks)
Incorporates designs that are welcoming, uplifting, and inclusive, reflecting both Bearwater’s history and its continued growth.
SELECTION COMMITTEE
Andre Jones- Co-Owner of Jones Urban
Andy Greenman- CRA
Alan Higdon- Community Stakeholder
Charia Jackson- CRA
Felicia Lloyd- TechFit, Bearwater Resident
Glenn Lloyd- TechFit, Bearwater Resident
Hopper Seely- Grind City Brew
Rachael Clark- Bearwater District Neighborhood Association
Larry Bean- City of Memphis Engineering Division
About Artist:
Brandon Marshall
Brandon Marshall is a Memphis-based muralist and multidisciplinary artist whose work blends collage, realism, and abstraction into large-scale, hand-painted compositions. Having primarily operated as a freelance artist since graduating from the University of Memphis in 2011, Brandon has also served as U.S. Cultural Ambassador to Nigeria (2018) and Malawi (2024) for aersol art and murals. Drawing from backgrounds in traditional graffiti writing, sign painting, and community-based public art, his murals often layer fragmented imagery into unified narratives that reflect site-specific locations, and the people who make it what it is. His practice spans public murals, installation, painting, and cultural collaborations, with a focus on creating work that is both visually dynamic and deeply rooted in human connection and regional history.
