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ATHENS – After more than a 11 month renovation project, the community is invited to join Athens Main Street to cut the ribbon at Merchants Alley.
The theme for the alley is ‘Athens Amplified.’ With music at its core, this theme resonates throughout the art. Artists created a series of art works that engages patrons and in a multitude of ways, tell a story, and enhance downtown Athens’ identity. 
Artist Adam Stephenson and assistant Pamela Tellez Coria completed work on the focal point of the music-themed alley. Entitled “Playing the Sound of the Wind” the fiddler’s song resonates through this vibrantly colored mural spanning 20 feet high by 40 feet wide. Funded in part, by Athens State University Foundation, the work of art aims to pay respect to the Foundation’s annual Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention.
Alabama Center for the Arts students created art passages that alley visitors can open doors to take them on a journey through art. Students from local high schools worked with Athens Arts League created ‘Instagramable’ spots.
“We want to invite the community to come celebrate the wonderful art in Merchants Alley in downtown Athens,” said Athens Main Street Executive Director Tere Richardson. “We want to encourage patrons to use this alley as a hangout spot as they shop and dine in historic downtown Athens.”
The alley is a part of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association’s North Alabama Mural Trail. The trail has hundreds of murals throughout the 16 most northern counties in Alabama. We invite all patrons to hashtag their photos and videos with #AthensAmplified and #NorthALMurals.
Details about Ribbon Cutting
- Friday, November 5, 2021
- 5 p.m.
- Alley is located between 107 N. Jefferson St. and 105 N. Jefferson St in downtown Athens
- Refreshments
- Beer and wine
- Live music by Brad Mallette
Media Release/Blake Williams Communications, LLC/Photos courtesy Athens Main Street
