Blog: City Blog

Muralist Leads Senior Art Class at O'Connor Center

Seattle artist Addison Karl took a break from working on his mural project on the Market Square Garage to lead an art class for seniors at O'Connor Senior Center on Friday, July 12.

Karl and his assistant Jody Lynn, a senior at the University of Tennessee, began by introducing the materials: thick sheets of paper, art board and stretched canvases; colored pencils, pastels, acrylic paints and magic markers. All but one artist in the room seemed temporarily frozen by the presence of so many blank slates.

"I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just having fun," Becky Harmon said as she confidently swept her brush across the canvas.

Confident artist

On the other side of the room, artist W. James Taylor, who serves on the City's Public Arts Committee, began to rapidly sketch a student's portrait in lavender colored pencil. At one point, he addressed the whole class: "I'm gonna tell y'all something about how I do art: I just start!"

W James Taylor

Karl's also encouraged participants to not let hesitation bring them to a halt.

"When you feel like, 'Oh, I can't sketch. I can't draw,' that's the best place to begin," he said.

Addison Karl and art student

Karl will make a public presentation about his work at the Knoxville Museum of Art on Wednesday, July 24, at 6 p.m.

He'll also teach workshop, for participants ages 7 and up, titled "Line It Up!" at the KMA on Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Register for this limited-capacity class by calling the museum at 525-6101, ext. 241 or emailing [email protected].

The Market Square Garage mural will have its official unveiling during a ceremony to be held 4 p.m. Tuesday, August 6.

Posted by ptravis On 15 July, 2019 at 9:02 AM