Design
A Brownfield Beautification Campaign for Just $750
An art project turns Memphis blight into a monument to the city.
On a recent 24-hour visit to Memphis, Tennessee, I came across this cool art project right across the street from the Memphis Central Station train depot. A simple plywood fence had been built around a vacant piece of land and painted with the lyrics about Memphis.
Formerly the site of a dry cleaner, this plot of land on South Main Street is now a vacant brownfield site. A few years back, a group of local artists and volunteers joined together to counteract the blight – one of the first impressions left on train travelers entering the city. Led by the local nonprofit the UrbanArt Commission, the group decided to transform the site into a monument to the city and its legacy as a birthplace of blues and soul.