project overview
Mallory Heights Bus Shelter Artistic Enhancements | Neighborhood Art Initiative 2021
Budget: $65,000 ( includes three artists honoraria of $500 each )
Most recent benchmark/update: Artist selected for this project: Ahmad George + Lawrence Matthews
Upcoming benchmark/update: Setting fabrication timeline and finalizing design edits
Next Artist Selection Committee Meeting: May 2023
selected artist design
project concept
UAC and The City of Memphis, in partnership with Mallory Heights Community Development Corporation, are seeking an artist to create artistic enhancements to bus shelters at Belz and Florida and Belz and Third.
background
About Mallory Heights:
The Mallory Heights Community is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the Old South Memphis area. The boundaries for the area of the Mallory Heights CDC are Belz Boulevard, to the north, Third Street, to the east, Interstate 55, to the South, and Martin Luther King (Riverside) Park, to the west. The neighborhood consists primarily of single family homes built in the 1950's, when it was a very prosperous community. In the late 1950's, just north of the neighborhood, Southgate Center was developed by Union Realty, an affiliate of what is commonly known as Belz Enterprises. This retail center is the primary shopping center for the South Memphis Community. Up until the early part of 2018, Southgate Center was home to a Kroger Grocery, the community's primary full service grocery store and pharmacy. When Kroger abruptly closed its doors, the neighboring communities of approximately 55,000 people were left in a food desert. Mallory Heights is a neighborhood where neighbors take pride in their community.
About Mallory Heights CDC:
When the Mallory Heights CDC was formed, around the same time as the Kroger store closed, it established a mission of implementing a creative, business community-based strategy through public and private partnerships to establish robust economic growth and environmental sustainability for a better, safer and healthier community. MHCDC and its predecessor, Mallory Heights Community Club, host an annual Neighborhood Night Out program every summer in Belz Park. In 2018, the CDC organized and hosted the MLK50 Walk/Run for Financial Literacy at MLK Park in conjunction with the City of Memphis' MLK50 Celebration. The community is actively involved in working to eliminate blight, and the residents in the area have been involved in initiatives to increase awareness, maintain the existing community and develop the boundary areas. MHCDC is currently working to finalize and adopt its "Walking Action Plan" to build on the momentum of "The Big Jump Project", new biking infrastructure, Transit Vision, Memphis 3.0 and the greater awareness of active transportation across the city to improve walkability, accessibility and connectivity throughout the community.
About UAC’s Neighborhood Art Initiative:
UrbanArt Commission launched its first Neighborhood Art Initiative as a Pilot Program in 2019 through support from the Assisi Foundation and totaling $120,000. Five public art projects were awarded to neighborhood associations, CDCs, community groups, non-profits, or arts organizations leading the development of public art in their spaces: Cherokee Heights Civic Club is creating five signs to mark the entrances of their historic South Memphis neighborhood. These permanent aluminum signs will carry the club’s motto, “We Care”, along with original designs relevant to the history of the community. At the Carpenter Art Garden in Binghampton, NAI will support a successful mural apprenticeship program in its second year. South Memphis Alliance and other neighborhood partners will convene soon to decide on how more public art can be added to the Soulsville area. In North Memphis, the NAI has furthered the work of the HUG Park Friends through Jamond Bullock’s colorful mural wrapping the pool area. In Orange Mound, artist Yancy Villa-Calvo, as a continuation of her engagement efforts through the Memphis 3.0 comprehensive planning process, installed the mural on Whitten Bros. Hardware store in late November 2019 with Melrose High School (RedZone Ministries) students.
The second round of Neighborhood Art Initiative was launched in November 2020 in partnership with the City of Memphis’ Percent-for-Art Program with the intention of funding a plethora of projects on city property in multiple neighborhoods within each City Council District over the course of consecutive fiscal years. There are 4 public art projects are in the works through UAC partners: Gestalt Schools (Hickory Hill), Mallory Heights CDC (Mallory Heights), The Time is Now Douglass RDC (Douglass), Uplift Westwood CDC (Westwood).
selection committee
Vera Holmes: Mallory Heights CDC - UAC’s Community Partner
Andres Arauz: Crosstown HS Graphic Design Teacher - UAC’s Artist Representative
Jera Moran: Washington Manor Apartments Property Manager - Community Stakeholder
Scott Fox: MATA Transit Planner- MATA Representative
Nick Oyler: City of Memphis’ Bikeway and Pedestrian Program Manager - City Representative
Alex Weaver: Haizlip Studio - UAC’s Architect/Engineer Representative
Anthony Watkins: CashSaver Store Manager- Community Stakeholder
Ural Grant: Mallory Heights CDC - Mallory Heights Resident
John Truong: City's BD&C Project Manager - City Engineering Representative (nonvoting)
Adrianna Moore: City’s Recreation Program Manager - Parks Representative (nonvoting)
