Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at the Mill & Mine
Since 1979, Keep Knoxville Beautiful has presented Orchids Beautification Awards to Knoxville and Knox County buildings, public art, and outdoor spaces that beautify and elevate the local landscape. In addition to traditional categories such as New Architecture, Redesign/Reuse, Outdoor Space, and Public Art, Keep Knoxville Beautiful highlights the accomplishments and sustainable efforts of our valuable volunteers, community partners, and green organizations and businesses.
ORCHID WINNERS 2024
2024 Winners
The Felicia Award: Jay Price
Community Project: Community Refrigerator at Sam Duff Memorial Park & Forest Heights Pocket Park
Waste Wise: Earthadelic
Changemaker: Trees Knoxville
Environmental Preservation: William Hastie Natural Area Expansion
Nowhere to Somewhere: Holston-Chilhowee Dog Park
Spruce Up: The Sunsphere
New Architecture: UT College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Learning Center
Outdoor Space: McFee Park Phase III
Public Art: Fort Kid: The Game!
Redesign/Reuse: Baker Boy Pizza Company and East By Orange Hat & One Two One
Pillar of the Community: CAC Beardsley Community Farm
Regreening: Battlefield Farm's Concrete Garden
Knox County Bright Spot: Beaver Creek Water Trail
City of Knoxville Bright Spot: Public Safety Complex
Mary Lou Horner Award: Cansler YMCA
Volunteers of the Year: Jacob Knight & The Remington Family
Adopt-A-Road Group of the Year: Nora Ryan
Changemaker:
This award recognizes an individual or organization that has gone the extra mile to promote a cleaner, greener, or more beautiful Knox County in the past year through advocacy, planning, and/or community engagement.
Community Project:
This award recognizes projects completed by neighborhoods, schools, senior living facilities, and apartment/condominium complexes that demonstrate pride in their communities through creative and well-designed communal spaces or projects for their residents/students to enjoy. Project examples include gardens, outdoor classrooms, pocket parks, community centers, neighborhood sign/beautification.
Environmental Preservation:
This award recognizes a project that took extra measures to utilize or preserve the natural landscape.
New Architecture:
This award recognizes projects that demonstrate excellence in overall design, form, and proportion; appropriate use of materials; and contextual appropriateness to the surrounding community.
Nowhere to Somewhere:
This award recognizes a project that turned a property that was blighted, or unloved, or not thought into a place that is a destination or place recognized by the community.
Outdoor Space:
This award recognizes well-designed parks, play spaces, patios, and public gardens, etc. that give us wonderful ways to enjoy the beauty of our East Tennessee home.
Pillar of the Community:
This award recognizes places that were built 20 or more years ago and in that time have become essential, beautiful, positive assets of their communities.
Public Art:
The award for public art recognizes mural, sculpture, or signage projects that best enhance the surrounding environment, transform the landscape, and express the values of the community.
Redesign/Reuse:
This award recognizes a project that successfully reused existing building stock for the same or new use, demonstrating environmental stewardship by making use of an existing structure rather than tearing down and starting new.
Regreening:
This award recognizes the project that has transformed something less green (hardscape, lawn) into something more green and beautiful (e.g. addition of trees or plants to the streetscape or paved vacant lot turned into a pocket park).
Spruce Up:
This award recognizes maintenance and extra caretaking of existing buildings/structures/outdoor spaces (Examples: repainting, invasive removal, graffiti removal, general maintenance that lends to a more clean, green or beautiful space)
Waste Wise:
This award recognizes businesses and organizations that promote sustainable waste practices: reducing, reusing, and recycling.