Look Familiar?

From memorials and birthdays to school spirit, proposals, and everything in between, painting the Springbrook Bridge has become a tradition that celebrates events and people from all walks of life.

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The Springbrook Bridge has served as a canvas for community opinions and artwork for generations. It occasionally hits the headlines, as when, in June 2021, a passerby berated two teenagers who were painting the bridge with a Pride flag. The passerby used homophobic slurs and racist language, all of which was caught on video. The incident made national news, and for days afterward, supporters and detractors of the Pride symbolism painted and repainted the bridge.

Another news story involved the vandalism of a memorial to Hannah Tate, an Alcoa student who died of cancer, in whose honor the charity Hannah Smiles was created. In the wake of the vandalism, supporters repainted the bridge to memorialize not only Hannah but also the young people who were killed by gun violence.

Mostly, though, the bridge remains uncontroversial, and its painting and repainting are traditional rites of passage for Alcoa youth.

It wasn’t always so, however: In 1963, a local man complained to the Alcoa City Council about the bridge graffiti during football season, calling the painters “vandals.” The Council assured him that painting the bridge was illegal, though usually performed by juveniles, and stated that they would be prosecuted if caught. Despite these statements, however, it seems that the law against graffiti on the bridge was rarely enforced.

And by 1968, the bridge—and its graffiti!—was appearing in the Alcoa High School yearbook, the Aluminator, including as a backdrop for group portraits of class officers and cheerleaders, even commemorating faculty and staff birthdays. The bridge appeared in classrooms, as well, including lessons on free speech and as part of studies on the Berlin Wall and its tradition of outspoken graffiti.

While it is legal to paint the bridge today, Alcoa police request that people refrain from painting the sidewalks and streets, putting up signs to that effect after the 2021 controversy. In addition, it is illegal to use profanity or hate speech on the bridge.

The Springbrook Bridge is part of Faraday Street, at its intersection with Darwin Street, along the Maryville-Alcoa Greenway.

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