SoKno Rail Trail & Art Walk
The SoKno Rail Trail and Art Walk will be a unique destination that connects people and possibilities. As people move along the trail, they will naturally venture from place to place - supporting local businesses and incubating new business opportunities along the corridor.
Legacy Parks Foundation is leading the effort on the transformation of the 3.8-mile rail corridor stretching from Chapman Highway to Ijams Nature Center, in partnership with the City of Knoxville and Gulf & Ohio Railways. The trail will be a soft-surface multi-use trail that includes a 1.5-mile Art Walk, blending outdoor recreation with public art. The Art Walk is funded through a generous donation from the Lawson Family Foundation.
Art Walk
As part of this landmark project, Dogwood Arts is managing the artist selection, coordination, and art installations along the Art Walk. Dogwood is now working with accomplished muralists from across the country to design and execute new large-scale murals across multiple walls along the trail.
In addition, our nationally recognized Art in Public Places Sculpture Exhibition will expand to include two new installations along the corridor, with sculptures slated for installation in mid-September 2026.
Art Walk Elements
The SoKno Art Walk will be concentrated on the 1.5-mile segment from Kern’s Bakery on Chapman Highway to the Island Home Park neighborhood. Art installations will evolve over time, ensuring the trail remains dynamic. Planned features include:
Murals
Created by Local, National, and International Artists
The first phase of work will include murals at Kern's Bakery, City South Apartments, Landing Health & Performance, and Station South Knoxville: Townhome Communities. There will also be (7) crosswalk murals completed along the Trail.
Collaborative Youth Artwork
More info coming soon!
The Art Walk will include opportunities for local youth to get involved and leave their mark!
Art Installations
SOKNO Letters, Tunnel Light Installation, Train Cars
Several art installations will delight visitors along the Art Walk — including murals on a train caboose and engine, a tunnel lighting installation, SOKNO letters, and more!
Preserved Rail Components
Honoring the corridor's rich history as a functioning railroad
Look for elements created from the original railroad utilized as wayfinding systems, crosswalk markers, and more.
Sculptures
Rotating & Permanent Sculpture Sites
The Art Walk will include (2) rotating sculpture sites as part of the Dogwood Arts Art in Public Places Sculpture Exhibition, as well as several large-scale permanent sculptures.
Pocket Parks
Rotating & Permanent Sculpture Sites
The Art Walk portion of the Trail will include (2) pocket parks where kids can play.
Titusville, FL
Featured Muralist
Naomi Haverland
Naomi Haverland lives in Florida but enjoys spending her time traveling elsewhere to create images out of her imagination onto walls around the world. As a professional mural artist, Naomi's primary goal is to install in image into an environment that will take the viewer by surprise with delight. Her secondary goal is to tell a story that will leave a lasting impact on the viewer.
One of Naomi's favorite parts of the mural process is the preliminary research stage. She loves to become an expert on the subject matter she's painting, as well as entrench herself into the culture surrounding the mural site. This helps her know what imagery will stop them in their tracks and be meaningful to them.
SHINY OBJECTS
Shiny Objects is located on the back of the Kern's Bakery building, at the entrance to the SoKno Rail Trail & Art Walk
2201 Kerns Rising Way
Knoxville, TN 37920
I was drawn to fishing lures because they’re such unexpectedly beautiful objects. They’re designed to catch the eye, with reflective metals, vivid colors, intricate patterns, and shapes that mimic living things. Enlarging them to an exaggerated scale gave me an opportunity to really celebrate those details.
Fishing is also a familiar part of life in Knoxville and East Tennessee, so the subject felt connected to the place while still giving me room to approach it in a playful and unexpected way. I wanted to maximize the trompe l’oeil effect, painting the lures as dimensional objects hanging from the building and using strong cast shadows to make them feel like they’re actually suspended from the wall.
I love creating murals that make people look twice, and I hope this one turns something small and familiar into something surprising, beautiful, and a little larger than life.
Canada
Featured Muralist
Emmanuel Jarus
The anchor piece of public art has already been installed along the Trail — on a caboose next to Kern’s Bakery. The caboose and mural were donated to the Art Walk by Pete Claussen and his family.
The caboose originally belonged to B. Ray Thompson, owner of Shamrock Coal Company, and for whom UT’s Thompson Boling Arena is named. In order to transport the coal, Thompson put together two trains. Legend has it that after a connecting railroad repeatedly lost some of his rail cars, Thompson painted every one of his engines, cars and cabooses the distinct Shamrock green color.
The mural was created by Canadian-born artist Emmanuel Jarus, whose work is inspired by the visual human experience and reimagines how art can exist in public spaces. Over the past decade, Jarus has collaborated with communities around the world to create large-scale portraits and figures on walls and other surfaces.
His artwork on the caboose is especially fitting as his first foray into art at age 19 was painting graffiti on the side of railroad cars.