'Trust the Process': The story behind the new mural at Whitehaven Community Center

Whitehaven Community Center is home to a new mural.

UrbanArt Commission, in collaboration with the City of Memphis’ Office of Comprehensive Planning, held a celebration June 3 to unveil the "Trust the Process" mural outside Whitehaven Community Center's SplashPad. The artwork was funded through the Memphis 3.0 plan.

"The process is... if you feed your neighborhood, your neighborhood will feed the next generation," said Tony Hawkins, the artist behind the mural. "If the next generation feeds their neighborhood, then the next generation will continue. So just trust the process. If we just take care of each other, we're good."

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Hawkins, 35, a Westwood artist and Whitehaven High School alum, designed the newstreet banners, bus shelters and the mural that visualizes major touch points in Whitehaven including a football player at Whitehaven High School, a home sold to a Black family, a high school graduate, a runner, an elderly woman aided by a nurse and Graceland.

Councilwoman Patrice Robinson served on the selection committee that chose Hawkins as the artist for this project. His application stood out to her because he captured "what Whitehaven is all about." The work being representative of Whitehaven's values was as important as the art being accessible and widely visible throughout Whitehaven.

"When I first got on the council, we had very little urban art, other than at the schools," Robinson said. "We are so proud of now we have an artwork that all of the citizens can enjoy, not just children in school."

Creating a mural that looks like Whitehaven

In a handwritten style, Whitehaven's primary ZIP codes 38116 and 38109 and words and phrases such as "faith," "community," "Respect the Haven," "love," "growth," "pride," "Haven Family," "legacy" and "#goals" are scrawled throughout the painting. In a bold Arial-like font "WHITEHAVEN" is written across the center.

It's a very straightforward message, and that is by design. Hawkins wanted the mural to "look like Whitehaven" both in the images depicted and in the style of art.

"The first thing I wanted to do is make sure that it was colorful, that was my base. These kids may be in an urban area, where you get a lot of grayscale, and you get a lot of drab colors. I need something that was gonna stand out," he said.

"My goal here was not trying to try to make it look super realistic. I wasn't trying to make this some complex art form with crazy technique, I wanted it to purposely look like a neighborhood artist did this. So I use a lot of hand-drawn lettering, I use a lot of loose brushstrokes because I still wanted it to look urban. I still want it to look like Whitehaven."

Hawkins drew inspiration from his life in Whitehaven, including the image of an older lady in a church hat who attends his church, representing faith, and his barber is depicted cutting hair, representing entrepreneurship.

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"It's something different about being able to give back to your own neighborhood," Hawkins said. "To know that the people in this neighborhood, the people that I've grown up with, the kids, some of these kids that come here are kids of classmates of mine, to know that they're seeing work that I do, in my own neighborhood is a different feeling. It's a few things I'd be more proud of."

With bus stops and banners lining Elvis Presley Boulevard, Hawkins hopes pedestrians and visitors coming to town will take note of what Whitehaven has to offer.

"It's a matter of representation being really focused on in the neighborhood in a way that it hasn't been before," Hawkins said. "I think a lot of people when they come to Graceland, I think they think our neighborhood is Graceland. This is Whitehaven. There's a name to this neighborhood. We want you to know that we're a predominantly Black neighborhood, and we're very proud of the people in our neighborhood and all the things that are represented in the mural."

The original site of the mural was meant to be at the Whitehaven Plaza but was moved to the park for logistical reasons. While working on the mural, children at the park would ask questions Hawkins about it, which he said gave him a new perspective on the importance of his work.

"I realized there's a reason why you're here, there's a purpose of you being here," Hawkins said. "So I started being intentional about what I said to [children at the park]. I would say, 'Hey, I'm a professional artist, and the city is commissioning me to do this mural.' So it's not just some guy painting on the wall, this is a career path."

More UrbanArt Commission pieces to come

The mural has been in the works since 2020, and as part of the UrbanArt Commission's 25th anniversary, the Whitehaven mural is the first of many unveiling celebrations they hope to have throughout the year.

"Art is essential to life," said Gabrielle Brooks, spokesperson for UrbanArt Commission, "And I think being able to see yourself reflected in the art around you and even have art exist around  to challenge and to dream up to have something that's just constantly able to change your mood, change your perspective is incredible to have.

"I'm just hoping that the community of Whitehaven truly sees itself in these images and feels the history, the culture and the vibrancy of the community itself when they look at this piece."

This isn't UrbanArt Commission's only work in Whitehaven. The organization is also behind the welcome mural on E. Brooks Road and Elvis Presley Boulevard and the upcoming large-scale sculpture project slated for the Georgette and Cato Johnson YMCA on Elvis Presley near Shelby Drive. Hawkins has also been commissioned to work on a mural in Westwood, expected to be completed next year.

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"I hope that when you see this stuff, I just want you to stop for a second," Hawkins said. "If it just makes you wonder more about the neighborhood that you're in, I'm OK with it."

Astrid Kayembe covers South Memphis, Whitehaven and Westwood. She can be reached at astrid.kayembe@commercialappeal.com, (901) 304-7929 or on Twitter @astridkayembe_.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Whitehaven Community Center unveils mural by artist Tony Hawkins