THE ART LINE - Memphis, Tennessee

CLIENT - OFF THE WALLS Arts

DESCRIPTION - What if a forgotten railroad spur that stretches between Memphis’s Edge District and South City, carving through kudzu groves and loading docks, could become a signature urban art trail? The visioning plan for the Art Line, funded by a pre-development grant from Memphis’s Center City Development Corporation, begins asking this question to spark creative activation, multi-partner public-private collaboration, and community-driven programming.

The rail spur has, for the time being, been fondly dubbed OFF THE RAILS Art Line as a play on OFF THE WALLS Arts, the grant recipient and activist for the project. The project limits extend approximately 1.25 miles along an inactive Norfolk Southern railroad corridor from Union Avenue, just east of the former Commercial Appeal headquarters, to Sledge Ave, near I-69/I-240. From north to south, the corridor crosses significant roads, like Beale Street, Doctor M.L.K. Jr Avenue, Vance Avenue, and E.H. Crump Boulevard. The Doctor M.L.K. Jr Avenue and E.H. Crump Boulevard crossings are bridge crossings.

The visioning plan breaks the corridor into four distinct character areas and describes typical treatments for each of these segments. The plan also provides guidance on materials, connections to existing active transportation corridors and culturally significant sites, and establishes a conceptual framework that celebrates art, history, and ecology. Through the planning process, DT design studio worked with a stakeholder group including representatives from the Downtown Memphis Commission, the City of Memphis, the Memphis Medical District Collaborative, and property owners to explore and document existing site conditions and context, opportunities for improvements, and recommendations for next steps.