CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Nov. 1, 2022) EPB and our partners invite local artists to submit proposals for the third side of our EPB community mural project along 10th Street. This year’s central theme is “Traditions on MLK” and highlights family traditions throughout the years in Downtown Chattanooga’s Martin Luther King Boulevard area. The open call begins November 1, 2022, and ends January 10, 2023.

The works of art featured in last year’s murals was produced entirely by local women and minority artists, half of which were first time muralists. This project serves as a platform for local artists to build their skills, launch their careers and share their voice with the community.

“We at EPB know that this community is filled with extraordinary talent and important stories that should be told,” said Elizabeth Hammitt, EPB director of Environmental Stewardship and Residential Energy Solutions. “We are honored to provide an opportunity to lift those voices and serve as a steward of artistic expression.”

The murals will be painted on panels along the third side of the EPB substation fence on 10th Street. This year the wall facing the alley behind Memo’s Grill will be split in up to 11 sections and completed.

“I’m so happy to see this wonderful mural project continuing and I’m thrilled that ArtsBuild continues to be a partner,” said James McKissic, president of ArtsBuild. “It’s a joy to welcome so many new murals to the MLK Neighborhood. And the EPB 10th Street Mural Project has been a great way for ArtsBuild to connect with new visual artists to tell them about our grants and programs.”

Artists must be 18 or older and live or work in the EPB service territory. They are asked to submit at least five images, specifically including samples such as painting, drawing, printmaking or graffiti art. Past mural experience is not required. Artists are also asked to write a vision statement and create an initial visual sketch of their concept that aligns with the theme.

An outside group of community stakeholders will select the muralists based on their submission’s artistic value, clarity of thought, community reflection and relevance to the theme. Artists will be notified of their selection and first-time muralists will receive support from ArtsBuild if needed. They will also be awarded a supply budget as well as a service fee for their work. For more information about the call for submissions that details the proposal and compensation specifics, contact Vanessa Willis with EPB at willisvm@epb.net.

There will be a virtual project information meeting on December 5, 2022, from 12-1 p.m. Contact Vanessa Willis for more information. Meeting attendance is optional, but artists can learn more about the project and ask any questions in this public forum.

This is the third year of a four-year project. EPB will take submissions to create a public mural on the fourth and final side of the substation wall in late 2023.

EPB engages several community and nonprofit organizations throughout the process from raising awareness about the open call for artists to serving on the judges’ panel: ArtsBuild, Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, City of Chattanooga-Public Art Chattanooga, Association for the Visual Arts, Hunter Museum of American Art, Stove Works, River City Company, Chatt Foundation (formerly the Community Kitchen), Memos, and numerous MLK district business and stakeholders.

About EPB

EPB serves the people of the Chattanooga area with advanced smart city infrastructure to enable world-class energy and connectivity solutions that include the most resilient smart grid power distribution system in the United States and the fastest internet in the world. EPB gained national notice when it deployed a community-wide fiber optic network accessible to all its customers and used it to launch America’s first Gig-speed internet in 2010 (beating Google Fiber by 4 years) as well as the first community-wide 10 Gig internet service available as a standard offer to all residences and businesses in 2015. Most recently, EPB launched America's first community-wide 25 Gig internet service, future-proofing the network's capacity and keeping Chattanooga on the cutting edge.

EPB also utilized the fiber optic network as the communications backbone for deploying more than 200,000 smart switches, sensors and other devices to establish the most advanced and highly automated smart grid in the nation. As a result, the U.S. Department of Energy named EPB a living laboratory for pioneering smart grid technologies. Since then, EPB has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and more than 20 other national research partners to play a critical role in more than $155 million in smart city research. EPB was also the first major power distribution utility to earn the GBCI’s PEER certification for having a highly automated, modernized electric power grid in 2015 and followed up in 2021 by re-certifying at PEER Gold.

EPB is an independent board of the City of Chattanooga which began serving customers in 1939. Visit epb.com for more information.

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