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'See Rock City?' Nope. In this campaign, the message is more like, 'See UT Rock'

A new mural is up and ready for viewing along I-81 in Bristol. Next stop: Greene County.

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Drive on Interstate 81 near Bristol and you'll see an obvious new orange addition to the landscape.

On Saturday afternoon, artist Troy Freeman finished a mural that's part of a new campaign touting the UT System's influence across the state. The message: "Everywhere You Look, UT."

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Freeman arrived Thursday in Bristol and commenced to work Friday on the barn near the regional medical center a couple hundred yards from I-81.

Credit: WBIR
Barn owner George Stone and artist Troy Freeman on Friday along the side that's about to be painted.

The mural features a paint shade called UT Orange that's especially meant for Big Orange projects.

On Tuesday, UT System President Randy Boyd and members of the Stone family, which own the barn, will be on hand at the site to talk about the campaign. Later this week, Freeman will put up another UT mural -- on a barn in the Mohawk community in Greene County.

The marketing campaign, reminiscent of the famous Southern "See Rock City" blitz, aims to paint a UT mural on one structure in all of Tennessee's 95 counties by 2030.

Tiffany Carpenter, UT System vice president for communications, said her goal is to have 10 murals up by the end of the year.

Credit: WBIR
Troy Freeman with the cheap chalk he buys to mark off letters for each new UT mural.

The Bristol barn becomes the fourth structure to sport an "Everywhere" mural. The others are the water tower along James White Parkway in Knoxville; a cancer treatment center in Memphis; and a Weakley County grain bin.

You can learn more and contribute to the mural project here.

UT also is interested in hearing from people with suggestions about other possible structures they could paint the logo on, including buildings in the Knoxville area.

You can learn more about artist Troy Freeman here.

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