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Those who have recently traversed the downtown business district of New Tazewell have likely noticed a bright addition to the landmark building located at the intersection of Main Street and First Avenue. The building, housing T.J. Noah’s Wholesale now sports a lively mural, courtesy of the Leadership Claiborne Adult Class of 2022. The Leadership Claiborne program, a division of the Claiborne Economic Partnership, consists of two classes – an adult and a student – made up of emerging leaders in the community and seniors chosen from the three high schools in the area.

The classes meet over a nine-month period, completing a project of their choosing. The adult class chose a beautification project, contacting Gale Hinton, a muralist who has over 50 years of experience in her field. Numerous murals have been created by the artist in schools and other venues across the country.

The class members set to work coming up with a short list of landmarks they felt represented the county’s past and present. Hinton narrowed the field to fit within the frame of her mural design, including buildings that no longer stand, like the Four Seasons Hotel, the Star Theatre and the Train Depot.

The mural project came together via a well-oiled coordination between several individuals and businesses. Noah agreed to the use of his building while Giles Industries played a significant role in preparing the building for paint.

Andy Duncan donated the use of his machinery while Terry Bush and Kyle Fischer gave of their time in running the equipment.

David Capps coordinated the project while Jody Janeway and Adam Stiles completed the prep work and painting for Hinton.

Donations were made by individuals and local businesses.

A class spokesperson would like to thank all contributors.

“This project would not have been possible without the very generous donations of Coffey Funeral Home, First Century Bank, Giles Industries, Hearthside Bank, Homesteader, LLC, Pinnacle Performance Physical Therapy, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Josh Russell.”

The class also sends out a “special thank you” to Hinton for all the long hours, countless miles, withstanding rough weather and for visiting each and every member of the community that came by to learn about the mural.

Members of the Leadership Claiborne Adult Class of 2022 encourage the public to come by and snap a picture of the mural to post on social media using the hashtag: #BeautifyClaiborne.

For more information about Leadership Claiborne, log onto: www.claibornepartnership.com/about/leadership-claiborne.

For more information about the artist, log onto Facebook and go to Gale Hinton Murals. Or, call the artist at 865-310-1201.