Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Vice Mayor Nick Pavlis on Wednesday unveiled a one-ton marble sculpture entitled “No Place Like Home” in Mary Vestal Park, 401 Maryville Pike.

The public art piece, created in 2003 as part of the Tennessee One Ton Show sculpture series, has been on display at several locations throughout Knoxville, including Sequoyah Park, Market Square and Ijams Nature Center. 

The marble was sculpted by Alan Finch in Bruce Bennett’s former studio in the Vestal community, and the steel cradle encasing the sculpture was created by Joe Babb. The piece has been described as a marble “house” encircled by the steel bars representing “whirlwind storms.” Finch and Babb joined Mayor Rogero and Vice Mayor Pavlis for the unveiling.

The sculpture was donated to the City by Candora Properties at the initiative of David Witherspoon, president of the company.

The marble sculpture is a fitting recognition of local history, as East Tennessee marble — particularly marble from South Knoxville — has been used throughout the country in prominent landmarks. Those landmarks include the marble lions in front of the New York Public Library in New York City, parts of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The popularity of marble from Knoxville earned our city the title of “The Marble City.”

For more information on Mary Vestal Park, please visit www.knoxvilletn.gov/parks.