Fresh Paint : Public Art in Uncertain Times

There are plenty of conversations about what art is and isn’t, who it is and isn’t for. I’m interested in this conversation, but I can’t answer that question, unless I answer it for myself. This September, I painted a mural that is now one of the first things to greet you when you arrive in downtown Jackson. Nestled just past Grubb’s Grocery and the Jackson Walk on North Highland, it’s a bright and idyllic scene, and I’m not oblivious to the fact that it’s an even more idealistic message: Love your neighborhood.

Windows Into Another World

If you want to see the inside of Jackson’s newest art gallery, call a real estate agent. There are no ropes looped from gold partitions. No security guards standing with their feet spread apart and hands clasped behind their backs. No tourists snapping pictures and scrolling through Yelp reviews to find the best place for lunch. There was no grand opening with trays of silver trays of hors d’oeuvres or patrons of the arts in cocktail dresses. Someone off peeled the blue “for lease, three floors” that sagged in the window.

Everyday Exotic

When I think about the vocation of a photographer, I think of the words of Simone Weil, saying that “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Paying attention is what gets most photographers into their profession. They pay attention and capture a moment and then linger in the darkroom, spending hours waiting to see an image develop from the blank white of a sheet of photo paper, the details slowly emerging in a chemical bath.

Becoming a Neighbor: An Ode to Midtown

Megan was a fact nut, the kind of girl who was interested in the details in everything she studied. She once committed a semester to checking out a certain number of design books at the library just to keep herself inspired in her trade and always learning. So it shouldn’t have surprised me when began research on her new historic duplex on Arlington and affectionately referred to it by the name the metal sign read outside: The Merriweather House.

EssaysKatie HowertonJune 22, 2016Jackson TN, Tennessee, Midtown Jackson, LANA, Lambuth Area Neighborhood Association, Katie Howerton, Megan Kersey, Arlington Avenue, history, home, house, architecture, neighbors, neighborhoods, Lambuth Boulevard, West Grand Avenue, Jordan Howerton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Aaron Brakhane, Emmy Brakhane, Westmoreland Avenue, Courtney Vandiver, Jacob Vandiver, Lisa Garner, Joe Garner, Alice Hardin, Aaron Hardin, Bethany Lutz, Kyle Lutz, Division Avenue, Heather Hornbeak, Jesse Hornbeak, Hether Pflasterer, Russ Pflasterer, Wisdom Street, Courtney Searcy, Whitney Williams, Rebecca Edgren, Anna Worley, Taylor Worley, Lee Wilson, Beth Wilson, Westwood Avenue, Westwood, Westwood Gardens, Highland Avenue, Tigrett Middle School, Danielle Glodjo, Tyler Glodjo, Diva Den, Amanda Bennett, Julia Marshall, Ally Currie, City House, City Fellowship Baptist Church, Kelsey, Melanie Taylor, Nar'Asha Randall, Natalie Pflasterer, Nyree Smith, Hillary Howse, Russell, Ellis Drive, Waverly Drive, Sunset Avenue, Forest Avenue, Campbell Street, memories