Faulkner Photo Decal On New Albany Water Tower

Press Release from www.VisitNewAlbany.com:

While not planned, October has shaped up to be the “month of Faulkner” in New Albany. Last week, the proposed “William Faulkner Scenic Byway” was approved by the Mississippi Department of Transportation and this week an image of William Faulkner was placed on a new water tower constructed at the corner of Hwy 15 and Bankhead Street near the entrance to downtown.

“The events weren’t planned to take place so close together, it was a simple case of serendipity, I suppose. Though, if we had known, we could have put together some sort of event,” says Sean Johnson the city’s director of marketing and tourism.

The image on the tower was the subject of some debate when it was initially proposed. Some felt like the tower should have an image of a bulldog, the town’s mascot, while others felt like a bike would be the proper choice in order to commemorate the Tanglefoot Trail, a bicycle trail that opened earlier in the year.

Johnson reports that having Faulkner on the tower was iffy at first and there were a number of letters written to the local paper, both pro and con. One person came up with a compromise of William Faulkner riding a bike and being chased by a bulldog, but it was never seriously considered.

Finally, in split vote, the city decided to commemorate their native Nobel Laureate on one side of the tower and their hometown team on the other.
“In the end it worked out well. Faulkner is facing west toward Oxford and the fabled Yoknapatawpha and the Bulldog faces the high school…so it was really a win-win situation,” says Johnson.

William Faulkner was born in New Albany on September 25th, 1897 and grew up to write a number of books and become an icon of Southern Literature, winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and winning two Pulitzers later for his works, “A Fable” in 1954 and “The Reivers” in 1962.

“As his birthtown, we felt like we needed to commemorate him as a city. Prior to the highway and the tower, there was only an historical marker and an exhibit at the local museum. The city’s Riverfest Festival was originally founded as a commemoration and set around his birthday, but over the years the Faulkner aspect of the festival faded,” says Johnson.

The image, a photograph, is one from the Cofield Collection and is licensed from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.

“Once it was decided to place the image up there, we realized that it would be impossible to post a photo or have it painted by an artist as it would not look right from far away…so, we ended up creating a halftone of the photo and applying it as a decal and it worked great,” says Johnson. “The sign company had never done anything like this before, so it was a big sigh of relief for everyone involved when it worked,” he continued.

Johnson says that he hopes that the method will be used in other towns throughout Mississippi and that water towers will display images of other Mississippi cultural icons.

“Mississippi is so rich in culture…Tennessee Williams in Columbus, Robert Johnson in Hazlehurst, Walker Percy in Greenville…there are so many greats from this state and having them on towers might remind us all about the depth and richness of our culture.”