Not Barn Yesterday- Appalachian Quilt Trail

Please visit the quilt trail website at vacationaqt.com

“Not Barn Yesterday” was a project funded by the East Tennessee Foundation with a Tennessee Arts Commission Arts Build Communities (ABC) grant to paint two large heritage murals (full side of barns) on barns in Washburn (Grainger County) and Hancock County on Hwy 33 in 2002.

These murals created pride and excitement in the communities, although they were costly and had a host of logistical issues. In 2003 Candy Barbee was visiting in Ohio and saw “A Clothesline of Quilts” article in a local electrical cooperative magazine about a project in Adams County, Ohio. They had painted twenty blocks on barns and buildings throughout their county and by driving the trail you see the entire quilt. The blocks were 8’x8’ or 4’x4’ and many were made of plywood and installed on the structures after they were painted.

Clinch-Powell used the “Clothesline” as a model to secure grant funding over the next few years from the US Forest Service, Tennessee Arts Commission ABC and RAP (Rural Arts Projects), and the East Tennessee Foundation to paint and install over 90 blocks in Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins and Union Counties.

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