City of Milan unveils new mural near downtown

MILAN, Tenn. — The City of Milan has a colorful new display that helps mark part of the city’s growth.

“Not only are we celebrating the new mural in Milan today, but this really continues the resurgence of downtown Milan,” Mayor B.W. Beasley said.

Just off South Main Street near downtown Milan, a mural was created through a partnership between residents, city officials and local artist Les MacDiarmid.

“When they get all the ideas together, it’s for me to kind of sort it out and then compose it on the wall,” MacDiarmid said.

It took about two months to finish the first major mural for the city, and each of the photos on the wall represents a piece of Milan’s history.

“All the way from the old depot to the train tracks and the history of Milan, how we got our name,” Beasley said.

Other symbols in the mural include the Milan Arsenal, a bull dog, and farming to represent the land on which the city was built.

“This mural actually, as you see from the title up there, is that this is about the land,” MacDiarmid said. “That’s what makes a town is the land and the product that comes from the land, and then the people who grew up on this land and become something of themselves.”

MacDiarmid says he has done several murals across West Tennessee.

The hope is that Milan’s mural will continue to attract more people to the area.

“We’re just trying to build on what we have, and again this is a big part of it,” Mayor Beasley said. “We build things where people will come to look at what we have and to admire the things that we are doing.”

The mural dedication took place around noon Wednesday. It is located in the downtown courtyard next to L.A. Realty.