Iris Tennessee Cheatham

Iris Tennessee Cheatham

A Clean County is a Beautiful County!

Iris Tennessee Cheatham a beautification awareness project created

entirely by Cheatham County Students.

In support of the Tennessee Department of

Transportation (T.D.O.T.) Stop Litter program, the

Tennessee Iris has been chosen as the art creation

to be made entirely of found litter in the county.

A Clean County is a Beautiful County!

Students from Harpeth Middle School cleaning up around their school!

Litter is a huge problem for Tennessee costing the state over $11million dollars annually. The Keenan Group, Inc with a grant received by the Cheatham County Mayor’s office provided by T.D.O.T. is proud to announce this school year-long project!

Sponsored in part by the T.D.O.T. Litter Grant and the office of Cheatham County Mayor David McCullough

recycled materials used in the production of this brochure

Nashville, Tennessee and other cities like New Orleans, Cincinnati and Chicago have created awareness projects through art created on various sculptures that resulted in creating a huge public awareness of specific issues of concern.

Kansas City Cows

New Orleans Red Fish

Iris Tennessee Cheatham A year-long school project to help bring awareness of the consequences litter has on our community, environment and financial resources. Sycamore high school technical education class, directed by teacher, John Staggs, will create the sculpture bases of the Tennessee Iris. One will be provided to each elementary and middle school as well as each high school. The mission is for all the students, parents and teachers to get involved in decorating their school’s Iris sculpture only using found litter within the community. The sky is the limit as to what they can create. The mission is to gather “ugly and costly” litter using it to create beautiful Tennessee Iris sculptures. The sculpture bases will be completed by December and delivered to each participating school in the county to decorate and create their masterpiece. These decorated pieces of art will be completed by March 31st and delivered to our “new” Museum of Litter at the Cheatham County Courthouse lawn for an outside exhibition on Earth Day in April. The Cheatham County Chamber of Commerce will be helping to gather business involvement to participate in a public auction where each sculpture will be purchased and the money raised will be donated to each school for their entry. Both the builder of the sculpture and the school who decorated the sculpture will share equally in the proceeds. Not only is it a school year-long litter awareness project, it is also a fundraising effort to enhance the art departments at all the schools, or however each school chooses to allocate their funds.

The Cumberland River Project was created in 1997.... The Catfish Out of Water was created in Tennessee to raise awareness - through public art - about the value of the Cumberland River to our quality of life, and the land management tools such as greenways which can protect and enhance this natural resource.

In the early 1930s, Tennessee residents were swept up in a wave of gardening. Enthusiastic green thumbs joined garden clubs, discussed native plants, and urged the state legislature to designate a state flower. Lawmakers joined in on the excitement and soon the beautiful iris was tapped as the Tennessee state flower. The trouble was, Tennessee already had a state flower! Fourteen years earlier, in a process overseen by a five-member state commission, the state's school children had chosen the passion flower as the Tennessee state flower. Not surprisingly, the iris's new title did not sit well with passion flower enthusiasts who were, well, passionate about their objections. Discontent on both sides of the issue kept the matter in floral limbo for 40 years. It was not until 1973 that the state legislature orchestrated a compromise and named the iris Tennessee's state cultivated flower and the passion flower the state wildflower. Today both flowers are admired throughout the state, but it is the iris that seems to receive more accolades. Iris flowers appear on the Tennessee license plate. They are also the subject of one of the state's official songs ("When It's Iris Time in Tennessee.") And each spring, residents from Chattanooga to Knoxville gather for the state's annual Iris Festival. The springtime celebration honors the Tennessee state flower with a rodeo, a floral show and coronation of, what else, an Iris queen. There are good reasons that gardeners across the state embraced the iris. The exquisite perennials grow easily here, providing ornamental value and colorful appeal to residents year after year. (While the legislature did not specify a color or particular species in its legislation, the purple iris is widely accepted as the Tennessee state flower.) Tennessee gardeners frequently grow irises to form attractive borders in their gar- dens, or to enjoy as cut flowers. The flowers grow from potato-like roots called rhizomes or, in drier climates, from bulbs. In springtime, they produce long flow- ering stems that end in six lobe-shaped petals. Each iris flower consists of three "standard" petals and three downward drooping petals or "falls". Falls are often marked by colorful, intricate designs in striking colors, giving irises their huge va- riety and beauty. The popular bearded iris, which grows throughout the state, is marked by a fuzzy line, or beard, running down the middle of these petals. Several hundred types of bearded irises are on display at the botanical gardens in Memphis. The flowers form the delightful Tennessee Bicentennial Iris Garden. How appropriate!

Tennessee State Flower The Iri s Iris germanicaIris germanica or Iris is the state flower of Tennessee. Iris is a large flower with purple or white petals, native to central and southern Europe. Iris flowers are brilliant spring flowers, and the best-known and loved garden plants.

Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Liliales Family: Iridaceae Genus: Iris Species: germanica

Fast Facts •Adopted as the Tennessee state cultivated flower in 1973 •Botanical name: Iris •There are over 170 species of irises. •Iris trivia: The name iris comes from Greek for rainbow, a reference to the many colors that irises grow in.

Source links:Tennessee Vacation: http://www.tnvacation.com/about NetState.com http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flowers/tn_flowers.htm

The basic iris sculpture will be constructed out of wood and wood-like materials and will measure 3 feet wide by 5 feet tall. On this base sculpture, found litter items will be attached in any form or fashion to beautify and colorize. They can be painted or whatever else is desired to make this the most beautiful piece of art. It will be important to note that these sculptures will be displayed outdoors, so it must be reasonably weather resistant. This can be accomplished by using shellac, or other items that can withstand light rain. Create a mosaic of color! Just because trash is ugly, you can transform its use into a beautiful masterpiece!

MORE FACTS ABOUT THE IRIS FLOWER:

Common names of the Iris germanica are: RHIZOMATOUS

BEARDED GERMAN IRIS KOCHII

5’ x 3’ Template to decorate

There are 3 groups of Irises: DWARFS INTERMEDIATE TALL

The tall irises are the most popular in home gardens and landscapes Broadly speaking, all Iris plants have long stems and six-lobed flowers. Flowers have 3 petals sagging downwards (actually large sepals in the same color as the flower), and three standing upright. (continued on next page)

The Keenan Group, Inc, The Cheatham County Department of Education and the Cheatham County Mayor’s office will have the final approval of all artwork Among the standards are: • Each piece of art must be safe for the public to interact with • Each must be durable for handling by the public • Design standards do not allow any direct product advertising, inappropriate verbage or images •

Iris flowers look like orchid-like flowers.

Each flower lasts about three days. Iris flowers have petals and sepals. Three upright petals are called standards, and three sepals hand drooping downwards are known as falls. These standards and falls may be of the same or different color. Popular iris flowers colors are lavender, blue, white purple, rose-red, yellow, pink, brown or various combinations. The beard is the fuzzy, fringed appendage above the falls.

Each must be able to withstand light rain

Iris Tennessee Cheatham is not just another pretty project!

Recognizing the value of educational possibilities with this art project, The Keenan Group, Inc, through a County grant from T.D.O.T. to support the state-wide Stop Litter program, brings a continuing awareness of the negative impact litter has on our environment: community, agriculture and animals. In addition to litter awareness, the Keenan Group, Inc in support of the arts in our schools, has developed this school-wide art project to raise funds for much needed materials within each school with the support of The Cheatham County Chamber and local businesses.

Each month Litter will be discussed and periodically simple interactive activities for all kids will be presented to get involved.

Cheatham County schools are blessed with an abundance of talented amateur artists! The art that will be represented at our first Museum of Litter on Earth Day (April 22, 2013) will be the result of hundreds of hours of work by students, teachers and parents.

A Clean County is a Beautiful County!

Sponsored in part by the T.D.O.T. Litter Grant and the office of Cheatham County Mayor David McCullough

recycled materials used in the production of this brochure

T HE K EENAN G ROUP , I NC . 615-746-2443 [email protected] P.O. B OX 458 P LEASANT V IEW , T ENNESSEE 37146

L OGO , D ESIGN & P RINTING COURTESY OF D EBBIE K EENAN T HE K EENAN G ROUP , I NC .

2014 winners!

What started out with fourteen 5 foot x 3 foot iris shaped wooden structures built by the tech ed class at Sycamore High School, turned into a spectacular Museum of Litter public exhibition and live auction on April 22nd, raising for the schools over $2 ,200! I t was a beautiful sunny afternoon at the Cheatham county Courthouse! The front lawn was littered with gorgeous museum quality masterpieces created by every school in the county as well as the CC Library story time kids. With 100% participation, it was a vision to behold. Litter costs our state over 11 million dollars annually cleaning our roadways from debris and litter. To bring a continuous awareness to our community, T.D.O.T. provided a grant to Cheatham County to educate our kids and the community about the negative impact litter has on our community. The Iris Tennessee Cheatham project was created and developed by The Keenan Group, Inc. to further enhance this mission. Mayor, David McCullough was proud to present the awards just prior to the auction that was conducted by Stephen Carr, a local acutioneer and realtor. Every one of the Iris structures were purchased and will be on display at various businesses, courthouse as well as some being donated back to the schools.

Photo courtesy of Tim Adkins Ashland City Times

Best Use of Litter Sycamore Middle

Iris Tennessee Chea August 2013 Kidsville News! began this year-long s to help bring awareness of the consequences litter community, environment and financial resources. Sycamore high school technical education class, directed by teacher, creating 13 sculpture bases of the Tennessee Iris. One 3’w x 5’h woo delivered to each participating elementary, middle and high school i cover, decorate and colorize in order to create a Masterpiece! The m students, parents and teachers to get involved in decorating their sc only using found litter within the community. The sky is the limit as t create. The mission is to gather“ugly and costly” litter using it to crea Tennessee Iris sculpture. most colorful cheatha middle

BEST OF SHOW & Most Beautiful Pegram Elementary

These decorated pieces of art are to be completed by April 1st, and will be gathered and delivered to our

“new”Museum of Litter at the Cheatham County Courthouse lawn for an outdoor art exhibition during Earth Day week April 2014. The Cheatham County Chamber of Commerce will be helping to gather business involvement to participate in a public auction where each sculpture will be auctioned off by Auctioneer, Stephen Carr. Both the class builder of the sculpture and the school who decorated the sculpture will share equally in the proceeds. Not only is it a litter awareness project, it is also a fundraising effort to enhance the art departments at all the schools, or however each school chooses to allocate their funds. ALL MONEY RAISED AT THE AUCTION GOES 100% TO THE SCHOOLS! Most Creative cc library s ory time

A beautification awareness project created

entirely by Cheatham County Students.

Your s

In support of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (T.D.O.T.) Stop Litter program, Kidsville News! has selected the Tennessee Iris as the art creation to be made entirely of found litter in the county.

Sponsored by the TDOT Litter Grant & the office of Cheatham County Mayor, David McCullough Let’s Talk Trash!

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John Staggs Senior Tech Ed Class are busy creating Iris sculptures!

Cheatham County schools are blessed with an abundance of talented amateur artists! The art that will be represented at our first Museum of Litter will be the result of hundreds of hours of work by students, teachers and parents. Iris Tennessee Cheatham It is not just another pretty project! Recognizing the value of educational possibilities with this art project, Kidsville News! through a County grant fromT.D.O.T. to support the state-wide Stop Litter program brings a continuing awareness of the negative impact litter has on our environment: community, agriculture and animals. technical excellence Sycamore High tech ed

Photo courtesy of Tim Adkins Ashland City Times

AMON • Each

public

Auction Bid WINNERS: Suzanne Lockert-Mash: Pleasant View Christian Melanie Vuoccolo - CC Library Story Time (most creative) Steve Powers - West Cheatham Elementary The Keenan Group, Inc. - Kingston Springs Elementary Debbie Small - Pegram Elementary (most beautiful & best of show) Adrian Johnson - Ashland City Elementary Grace Pediatrics - Sycamore Middle (best use of litter) Perry Keenan - Pleasant View Elementary Heritage Bank - Cheatham Middle (most colorful) Adrian johnson - Harpeth High Dolores Moulton - Sycamore High Mary Littleton - East Cheatham Elementary PV Nursery & Florist - Harpeth Middle Debbie Small - CC Central High

Harpeth Middle

Harpeth High

Pleasant View Elem Cheatham Middle

Pleasant View Christian

Sycamore High

West Cheatham Elem CC Central High

Westt Cheatham Elem

Kinston Springs Elem

CC Library Story Time

Pegram Elementary

2014 winners!

2014 special thanks to: Community bank & trust, stephen carr auctioneer, the livery stables, pV nursery & florist & GO JUMP!!!! from 1981 – 1986). Throughout the years, Guy has set his hand to such notable cartoons as Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry,Fraggle Rock and The Pink Panther (to name a few), and was the co-creator of Muppet Babies. We were honored to have had Guy Gilchrist as one of our special guests! Guy Gilchrist created our very own Nancy Cartoon commemorating our Iris project! At the age of 24, he was hand-selected to draw Jim Henson’s The Muppets cartoon strip (which was wildly successful and printed worldwide in over 660 newspapers daily

Ashland City Elem

Sycamore Middle

Let’s Talk Trash!

Sponsored by the TDOT Litter Grant & the office of Cheatham County Mayor, David McCullough