New mural brightens neighborhood
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Residents and visitors to the northeast quadrant of Tullahoma are enjoying a new approximately 15 foot x 30 foot mural on a building at the intersection of East Hogan and Country Club Drive. The building and business, home of The Kid’s Company, are owned by April and Mark Campbell.
The colorful mural, which took three days to paint, features art of local flowers, butterfly and nature with a large script across the mural: ‘There’s No Place Like Tullahoma, TN.’
Although Mrs. Campbell did most of the painting, she was assisted by her husband, Mark, and Aby Gilliam, Aubreigh Campbell, Athena Loy, Jocelyn Loy and Haley Carr.
When asked about her mural painting experience, Mrs. Campbell, who grew up in Huntland, said, “No murals but I’ve painted classrooms and hallways in our church, New Life Pentecostal Church here in Tullahoma. I love to paint and would be open to painting more murals in the future.”
“We bought the building in December but I have wanted to do a mural on that wall for a while. It is a high traffic road and the mural just hopefully will make people smile and make their day a little brighter as they drive by. Something fun and easy going to be happy about and a happier place to live and shop.”
With no art background and no mural painting experience, how did the design come together? “I picked out the elements I liked and looked at hundreds of other murals in person and online. Then Mark and I put together what we thought would be a good fit for the wall and community.”
A challenge was getting the wall ready on an older building. “Tons of prep work was required. We hired a company to fill in all the blocks where the cement had fallen out. Mark and our two boys then used a sander and sanded each and every block before we put on the first coat of paint to ensure the paint adhered and stays on for years to come hopefully. After this we painted the wall and then it was ready for the mural. This process took a few months.”
While the Campbells were painting and the mural was taking shape, several people stopped by. “Everyone that stopped while we were painting gave great comments, wanted to take pictures or just wanted to say thank you for making Tullahoma better. I would like to give a huge shout out to the sweet family that brought us Dairy Queen ice cream that first night we started working. They were amazing!”
Ironically, Mark grew up right behind the store when his parents owned K and S Awards. “He remembers when he was a boy driving his lawn mower to the store when it was Hall’s Market to get penny candy.”
Now the 5,000 square foot building houses The Kid’s Company featuring new and used children’s clothing, toys, shoes, accessories, birthday and new baby gifts. This past year, the 15 year old business expanded into adult clothing and accessories with more inventory expansions planned for 2026.
“We opened when our son Landon, who was two at the time, was outgrowing all his clothing and the nearest place to take items was Murfreesboro. I wanted to give Tullahoma a clean, fun and friendly place to recycle their items and trade up for what they needed.”
Anything planned for the front of the building? “We are planning some interactive murals for the old window frames in the front of the building. And possibly even a mural rug! Very excited for those. More to come in the Spring of 2026.”
Lane Curlee can be reached at lcurlee@lighttube.net or 581-0360.
