JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The search for the new Memorial Fountain design on the campus of East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is underway. The fountain commemorates the first five African American students to desegregate the campus in the late 1950s.
The fountain is located in Borchuck Plaza in front of the Sherrod Library.
During a ceremony in 2013, it was dedicated to Eugene Caruthers, Elizabeth Watkins Crawford, Clarence McKinney, George L. Nichols and Mary Luellen Owens Wagner. However, a decade later an arctic blast sent freezing temperatures across the region and the sculpture in the fountain broke.
The damages prompted a committee to look into replacing the fountain design with something new instead. They decided to accept proposals from artist and artist teams for a new design.
Keith Johnson, ETSU vice president of equity and inclusion and chair of the Department of Engineering, Engineering Technology and Surveying, said a large list of artists applied. From there, five finalists were chosen.
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Austen Brantley
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Wesley Clark
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Maxwell Emcays
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Stephen Hayes
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Christopher Janney
Johnson said the committee would like the new design to be totally different. Before the sculpture broke, there were originally five parts that represented the five African American students.
“We think that creating something that’s unique to this fountain is going to really highlight, not just have an image there standing in the middle of Borchuck Plaza, but we want something that literally tells a story,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he wants something that really captures the essence of those students. He said them integrating into was was then known as East Tennessee State College was huge.
“That changed the trajectory that impacts who we are today,” Johnson said. “And so when we install this new fountain in front of Borchuck Plaza, we want it to make a statement. We want it to demonstrate that all students who enroll at East Tennessee State University are welcome to this campus.”
That is something multidisciplinary artist Maxwell Emcays is looking to portray with his design.
“I think that there are very discrete ways in which, African-American students may not feel welcome on campus, whether it be just walking around and realizing that nothing around you sounds or looks like something you’re familiar with, whereas certain majorities have connectivities that feel familiar,” Emcays said. “I think that it’s important for us to have visuals and reminders. I can imagine Black students walking to class and being reminded that they are welcome here, that they do have a place. And they’ve been here for a very long time.”
Emcays applied for the project because of his personal connection of being the only Black student at the college he attended.
He’s been taking trips to ETSU and researching about the five who desegregated the campus.
“I want to make sure I really pool the narratives and the story and the accuracy of what people were going through, what people believed in, and what it was like for these five students to make their way here,” Emcays said.
He said he wants people to be educated by his piece.
“It’s super important to localize and be very specific about what made Black people great and what made that greatness open up doors for those five to feel confident enough to walk through those doors and know that there were going to be okay,” Emcays said. “There is a system that was around them, from churches to community groups, to leaders to businesses, to just people that walked them to school, that were watching kids. So much of community is lost when we don’t highlight those details.”
He uses different mediums for his public art displays.
“When you see my art, you may see some bronze, you’ll see some different metals, aluminum, stainless steels, wood, fabrics, textiles. Some of my works are interactive, LED’S.” Emcays said. “So the way I kind of approach each piece, I start with a blank canvas and kind of look at what really makes sense for that space, time, people, context.”
Emcays is also an art activist, who sees that art is for everyone and doesn’t have to be confined to gallery walls.
The finalists for the fountain design will submit their designs by Feb. 15.
Johnson mentioned how he would like an interactive component to the design.
“Hopefully, we will be able to have something like a QR code so that students can be able to backtrack and see where these students spent their time when they were here at East Tennessee State University.”
In March, the five finalists will present their designs to a committee.
“And from those presentations, we will start narrowing down to maybe top one or two,” Johnson said. “And then we want to get the campus involved in providing us their opinions about the design work that these artists have produced.”
The artist selection will be announced in April. The start date of construction will be determined by a successful fundraising campaign with a budget of $225,000.
The projected completion date is in August.
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