project overview
UAC, in partnership with the City of Memphis’ Office of Comprehensive Planning (Memphis 3.0), commissioned artist Rachel Briggs to create a bus shelter and complimentary street banner designs that visualize the pride of the Raleigh community, complement the surrounding environment and offer a welcoming experience. The designs include aspects of nature, reflect community, and bridge the past, present and future of Raleigh. Briggs utilizes bright colors in a quilt-like pattern to weave imagination and attention from panel to panel, showcasing the local history, ecosystem and community as drivers and pedestrians pass by.
Raleigh was historically inhabited by indigenous peoples of the Chickasaw tribe and later settled in 1820 by a trapper named Tapp near a natural spring, originally called “Tapp’s Hole.” The bluff above the spring was purchased by Wilson Sanderlin and James Freeman and came to be called Sanderlin’s Bluff. Raleigh was designated as the county seat for West Tennessee in 1824 before moving to Memphis in 1829.
Raleigh has a rich history as a destination for its natural springs and their purity and medicinal properties. Dr. David Coleman developed the first spa near the springs in 1842, which attracted many visitors with other hotels to follow. The attraction of the springs led to a railroad being constructed between Memphis and Raleigh in 1873. In 1892, the Raleigh Inn was built and offered a number of amenities surrounding the springs. The Raleigh springs, however, began to dry up, and the Raleigh Inn closed in 1903. The Inn later became The Maddox Seminary for Young Ladies and then the James Sanitorium, before burning down in 1912.
Present day Raleigh is in a mode of transformation, even revitalization, with the Wolf River Greenway creating new changes at Kennedy Park that go far beyond a ribbon of asphalt for bicyclists and pedestrians. The greenway promises to open the park beyond its thick tree lines to the river’s edge. Safety features as part of the greenway will include landscaping changes that have been proven to work in other similar projects across the country. The park’s existing boat launch at Harrington Creek will be renovated, and there will be a community garden. What is now the end of the park’s paved road – between a soccer field and a complex of baseball diamonds – will continue south and west along a dirt path to the river’s edge.
UAC in partnership with Wolf River Conservancy and the City of Memphis are creating a sculpture project designed by artist Bruce Myers, which will serve as an outdoor classroom for the conservancy. Also in partnership with the city, UAC completed another public art project for the civic center. A 3-sculpture project designed by Yvonne Bobo now complements the lake at the center.
“ I chose local flora, fish, waterfowl and more to connect the viewer with the nature of the area around them. I have included details that can be explored both up-close and from far away.” ”
about the artist
Rachel Briggs
Rachel Briggs is an illustrator, designer, and educator with over 15 years experience creating and collaborating on hundreds of design and illustrative projects ranging from album art and editorial illustrations to murals and animations for a slew of bands, record labels, publications, businesses and more. She has been recognized for her advertising and editorial work by The Society of Illustrators and the American Museum of Illustration and was named "Best Illustrator in Nashville" in 2019.
