A reception for Follow the Elk, a Tennessee Arts Commission Project was held on Tuesday evening at Postmark LaFollette. Follow the Elk project organizers pictured left to right is Manuel Mesa, Brad Smiddy and Bill Stanley.

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- A reception was held on Tuesday evening at Postmark LaFollette for the Tennessee Arts Commission “Follow the Elk” art project. The evening also marked the fifth Tuesday meeting for the Campbell County Rotary Club, which was in attendance for the momentous occasion.

Follow the Elk is a project that was “designed for Campbell County residents to raise awareness of culturally and historically significant sites and activities that are in the county. At each site, there will be a piece of art created by a local artist and a QR code that can be scanned to access more information about the project and the location.”

Bill Stanley, who is on the Follow the Elk project board, gave a brief overview of how the project came to fruition through funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission. The TAC approached Manuel Mesa, Executive Director of the Campell Culture Coalition about doing a community project in Campbell County. The C3 “pulled the project together,” Stanley said.

Workshops and meetings were held with the public and collectively the overall theme of the project took root.

After a three-day workshop, the decision was made to call the project “Follow the Elk” because, according to Mesa, Elk, is “essentially the county symbol.”

“We felt it was important to incorporate the whole county and the county is divided into five districts, so we knew we wanted to include a historical site at each district,” Mesa said.

According to Stanley, the project “really pulled people together to participate.”

The original artworks from the project are pictured in the background. The project features art by local artists at five historically significant locations across the county. Artwork has been copied onto metal signs, with QR codes that can be scanned for more information about the historical area and the project. Artist signed prints of the artworks from the Follow the Elk project are available for purchase with funds going back into the project.

In the spring, five local artists were chosen to participate by creating an original artwork to honor a historical site in the county. After the chosen artists completed their historical art works, they were reproduced on metal signs at Sandy’s Custom Auto and will be placed around the county in each of the five districts.

The fist district features the Kinkaid house on Highway 63, with artwork completed by Cindy Marrazzo. In the second district, Tank Springs in LaFollette was the location chosen, with artwork done by artist Wanda Guy.

Third district is be represented by Eagle Bluff Springs in Jacksboro, with the artwork created by Jellico High School student Isabelle Parks.

The fourth district location is Stony Fork School in Stony Fork, with art done by artist Patricia Walden and in the fifth district, it is the Homer Rodeheaver Chapel on Highway 297 in Newcomb, with artwork completed by John LeMaire.

The project was grant funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission with funding managed by the Campbell Culture Coalition. The Campell County Chamber of Commerce, the County Mayor’s office, and Postmark LaFollette were also partners in this project, as were private citizens.

The project is expected to grow with more historical sites to be chosen for “round two” of Follow the Elk, according to organizers, who announced on Tuesday evening that there was enough funding to start the second project. Additional funding is being raised through donations. There are also signed prints of the five artworks available for purchase, with funds going towards the project.

Additional artists and historical sites around the county will be chosen and the project is expected to be “long-term.”

“We want to showcase local artists and local historical and culturally important sites and there are so many in Campbell County,” Mesa said.

To sponsor a new location, donate towards further art installations, or to nominate a site, please email followtheelk@gmail.com. For more information, connect to the website. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 07/31/2024-6AM)

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