While her face remains on two other murals along M.L. King Boulevard, a mural featuring legendary music figure and Chattanooga native Bessie Smith has been partially painted over on the east wall of Champy’s.
Mia Hansford, left, and Thomas Perry work on the mural called “We Shall Not Be Moved” at the Mark Making Studio in North Chattanooga on Friday. The mural, which depicts the Chattanooga sit-in demonstrations of 1960, will be placed on the side of Champy’s Chicken this summer. But some UTC students are upset that it will cover their mural of Chattanooga-born blues legend Bessie Smith.
The good news is that a 17-foot-tall mural capturing the resilient spirit of Howard High School students who led the 1960 sit-ins will be on the wall at Champy’s Chicken on M.L. King Boulevard next week.
The bad news is that it will replace a student-designed mural of blues legend Bessie Smith.
“It was a huge disappointment that we spent so much time and energy on it,” said Caety Carter, one of more than a dozen former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga honors students who painted the Bessie Smith mural in 2010.
By Friday, the Bessie Smith mural is expected to be completely removed. Mark Making will install the new mural, called “We Shall Not Be Moved,” on Monday.
“We have everyone’s permission, the property owner’s, the neighborhood association,” said Frances McDonald, who founded Mark Making, a nonprofit organization that creates public art.