Project Overview
Rollin' By The River | Beale Street Landing at the Mississippi River
“As this conceptual river moves throughout the plaza and walking pathway, the design, color and patterns change and create an abstract narrative.”
Florida artist Gary Moore's colorful paving installation Rollin' on The River is situated at Beale Street Landing on the Mississippi riverfront, where a new, modern boat-docking facility, park and event space sit at the terminus of the renowned Memphis Blues street. The 4,260-square-foot design stretches 570 feet from the pier along the riverfront park to a kinetic sculpture by Evan Lewis, a fall 2014 installation.
Moore's public art project is a pedestrian walkway that provides an aesthetic overlay public access to the pier and the park. The artist describes the title of the design as being “paraphrased from the song “Proud Mary” (John Fogerty, 1969). Used here, Rollin' by the River conveys a uniquely southern American experience of the Mississippi River and it is specific history. This is translated into the patterns, colors, textures, and materials used in the paving design.”
Rollin' by the River is a whimsical public artwork that conceptually extends the Mississippi River, located to the west of the site, across the mini-park areas onto the pedestrian walkway paving. As this conceptual river moves throughout the plaza and walking pathway, the design, color, and patterns change and create an abstract narrative. This narrative is comprised of five sections, which tells a story of how the water moves through spaces. Because there is no obvious narrative within the abstract work, the artist's narrative serves only as a guide for the public. On multiple viewings of the paving design and moving throughout the space over time, pedestrians’ own personal narratives become an interactive element based on the work's title and designs.
Rollin' by the River at Beale Street Landing was facilitated by the UrbanArt Commission for the City of Memphis Public Art Program in partnership with the Riverfront Development Corporation.
About the Artist
Gary Moore
Gary Moore is a Black artist whose studio is located in Dania Beach, FL. He completes public art as an aesthetic overlay to existing and new capital construction projects, where seamless integration of visual art is a vital component to architecture and community revitalization initiatives. The artist works collaboratively with architects, engineers, government agencies, and community stakeholders. His studio specializes in paving design. In addition to the Beale Street Landing project in Memphis, the artist has completed a range of public art commissions since 1992, including major works in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. His work is in the collections of the City of Philadelphia, the City of Tampa Florida Public Art, Miami-Dade County, Miami Dade Public Library, New York Public Library, Craig Robbins Collection in Miami Beach, the African American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia, and the African American Research Library in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
