The reality of COVID-19 continues to affect what used to be the normality of everyday life. For the past year, many businesses have struggled to keep their employees and their doors open.
For Johnson City Public Art, though, funding has not been an issue throughout the pandemic.
Johnson City Public Art, which is based in Johnson City, Tennessee, has many projects throughout the city, such as murals and sculptures. The most recent sculpture, introduced to downtown was in December 2019, is the Passion Flowers by Jeff Reed and Jennifer Madden. In addition to the art that lights up the city, the committee continues to move forward to seek new ways to bring the city to life.
“We’ve been pretty lucky with the kinds of things we do,” said Nancy Fischam, chair of the Johnson City Public Art Committee.
As of now, Johnson City has two murals and is currently working on its third mural on the I-26 overpass. While Covid-19 has put a halt on certain art projects, more art will be finding its way in Founder’s Park and other sites in the downtown area.
“We will be changing out the present sculptures, they’ll be taken out in the first half of May, and installing 14 new sculptures,” said Fischam.
Although COVID-19 has affected their in-person events such as their fundraising event, 5 x 5 Exhibit and the Art Struck Festival, the committee is hopeful to bring back the in-person events. They are considering starting with the sculpture walk that would be available sometime in June, followed by the Art Struck Festival in September.
For those who are looking to contribute, the committee is open to new artists to add to the downtown art growth. For more information regarding Johnson City Art, visit https://jcpublicart.com.
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