25 Years of the Trestle

The Cooper-Young Community Association is proud to celebrate 25 years of the iconic Cooper-Young Trestle Art—a landmark built by our small nonprofit to honor the creativity and spirit of our neighborhood. As we mark this milestone, we’re asking for community support to help fund the ongoing upkeep and preservation of this beloved gateway. Your donation ensures the trestle continues to shine for the next generation and remains a vibrant symbol of the art, history, and heart of Cooper-Young.

History of the Cooper-Young Trestle Art

“CY always had a personality all its own, but the Trestle Art gave it an identity to rally around and to be known throughout the city, county, and more. Turning a lead hazard into an iconic welcome to the neighborhood — representing not only the housing stock but also the artistic bent of the area -was truly inspired. Like other great art, I think it made tangible the intent of those who built it, and it continues to draw people together.” – Angela Strain, former CYCA director, 2009

Setbacks like the landscape project along Southern did not deter the Steering Committee. Their next project became a signature success. One of the major eyesores of the neighborhood throughout the 90s was the abandoned old railroad bridge that spanned Cooper Street near the intersection of Cooper and Central. Although it belonged to the Union Pacific Railroad (UP), this company had abandoned it. It was rusty, choked with weeds, and adorned with graffiti and trash—a grim, unwelcoming entry into CY. Situated as it was near a major entrance to the neighborhood, it was a constant thorn in the side for residents who resented the impression of urban blight. The rail line was no longer in use, but UP refused to repair, remove, or allow groups to change it, despite repeated overtures on the part of neighborhood groups. 

Project Manager Steve Davis and volunteer personnel (which included a lawyer, an insurance agent. and a lead expert-all residents) tackled the range of chores that this project required. One group worked with the newly formed UrbanArt Commission to send out a national call to artists, conduct a workshop on public art, choose a project, and enter into contract with the winner. Another group investigated the problems of owning a trestle. These included insurance, engineering, safety, utilities, maintenance, and easement agreements. This group waded through reams of paperwork and red tape to get the project off the ground. As Emily Bishop recalls, she only stepped into the role of CYCA president to make this dream a reality. “I was tempted by the promise of public art, she chuckled. “I didn’t feel I had real leadership potential to do that job, but Steve Davis convinced me I could handle it. I knew it would take a committed CYCA president to make the trestle art happen. so I stepped up to the plate.”

A group began work on funding for the Trestle Art project, which totaled $64,000 (the large single G2000 expense), This work included group donations, two grants, and individual fundraisers. Another group tested, researched, painted, and prepared the area for the artwork, an arduous process over a busy street. This group included over 20 volunteers and adjacent business owner, Richard Sullivan of Comnitrans (792 Cooper). 

The winning design was a steel structure composed of the silhouettes of 12 representative buildings from the neighborhood. Involving the whole neighborhood, residents nominated their favorite CY homes, and the CYCA Board chose the winners to represent CY’s architectural diversity. Jil Turman, a local metalsmith, created the art at her South Main studio. She created scaled replicas on CY landmarks like the Capt. Harris House, the gazebo, and houses representing the shotgun, bunga low, and craftsman styles that grace the streets of CY. sile shotgun, bunga. 

During the piece’s creation, Turman held an open house at her studio. She recruited residents to help with the welding on the artwork, so CY residents have literally had a hand in every phase of its formation. The steel facades range from 6’ to 15’ in height, weighed 1,500 pounds or more each, and the entire structure is 150′ long. With some difficulty, volunteers transported the house structures from Turman’s studio on South Main to storage at CommTrans over the course of eight months. A contractor was hired to set and secure the metal images in place as volunteers directed traffic over a busy Cooper Street during the two-week installation period. 

The trestle art project was dedicated on October 8, 2000 with a huge joyous street party, a speech from The Trestle Art project was dedicated on October 2000 with a huge joyous street party, a speech from Mayor Herenton, and acknowledgements by Manager Steve Davis of over 350 people who had volunteered their time, money and expertise to make this public art a reality. By TV, radio, magazine and newspaper accounts, this project was the first-of-its-kind public art project that is now being replicated by other groups around the city.

Excerpt from Cooper-Young: A Community That Works, by Lisa Lumb & Jim Kovarik