Project Overview

Whitehaven Sculpture Project

Budget: $164,500 (includes honoraria for selected artists to develop site-specific proposals)

Selected Artist: Lorenzo Scruggs

Status: Completed in April 2025


Background :

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, in partnership with the City of Memphis, will commission a new sculpture project that encapsulates the layered history of Whitehaven, complements the surrounding environment, and invites interaction with the artwork.

Scope of Work

The selection committee expressed interest in a sculpture project that speaks to the historic value that the Whitehaven neighborhood has been to the city of Memphis by including the following elements.  

  • Incorporates the strong family connection and community pride of the area

  • Selfie-worthy/invites social-media activity

  • Creates an inviting atmosphere for current residents and tourists alike

  • Functional and/or interactive use, possibly a seating area

  • Appeals to all ages/engage intergenerationally

  • An attraction piece/symbol for the neighborhood

  • Presents an opportunity to experience the broad community of Whitehaven

  • Willingness to mentor an emerging, Memphis-based artist throughout the project development processes


SELECTION COMMITTEE

Trey McKnight - Neighborhood representative - Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Community (GWERC), Charles Everett - Neighborhood representative - GWERC, Dr. Christopher Davis - Neighborhood representative - St. Paul Baptist Church, Ethan Skaggs - City Division representative - City Engineering, Mary Olds - Site representative - YMCA, Earnestine Jenkins - Artist representative - University of Memphis, Lindsey Bailey - Artist representative - Local Artist, Cameron Osborne - Artist representative - Artistic Lounge Owner, Jay Humphries - Architect representative - Archimania, Mike Lemm - Engineering representative - City Engineering (non-voting), Shanette Parks – UrbanArt Commission (non-voting), Wendy Young - UrbanArt Commission (non-voting)

For more information about this project, please contact:
Richard Echols | Program Manager
901.881.8205 | richard@uacmem.org

NOTE: Commissioned artists are permitted to work with outside contractors to fabricate the actual work of art.