Story by Zoe Marcum, FS Communications Student Assistant
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is known for its vibrant and colorful campus and presence of Tennessee Orange, or its more technical name, Pantone 151. It’s on railings, pipes, offices, walls, and even the beloved Smokey statues scattered across Rocky Top. But that iconic color doesn’t simply appear. It has to be applied, maintained, matched, and perfected. And behind every bright pop of orange is a small team of painters whose steady hands and practiced skill keep UT looking unified and unmistakably Tennessee.
Painting on a campus this large isn’t simple. Interiors are complex, finishes vary from building to building, and applying Tennessee Orange requires precision and experience. Facilities Services has an entire team dedicated to this work – Paint Services. Once construction crews, electricians, plumbers, and maintenance teams finish their part, the painters arrive to put on the final polish. They’re the last step before a space is ready for thousands of students, faculty, and visitors that use campus daily.
Paint Services operates with four teams, five cargo vans, and a mix of paints and equipment. Three of those vans carry two‑person response teams who handle day‑to‑day work orders across campus. The fourth is a four‑person maintenance team who handles the larger, more complicated projects that require a few more hands on the job. When there isn’t a major painting project underway, the painters jump in to help maintenance crews they already work closely with. Their daily tasks range from repainting railings and piping to refreshing old offices that need a new coat and a new life.
Most of the time, the painters rely on the basic, standard brush and roller. But occasionally, a job calls for something more intense. When they need to lay down a perfectly even coat across a large space, they suit up respirators, protective suits, plastic sheeting covering every inch of furniture in the room and bring out the paint sprayer.
And they do it while navigating a unique challenge, Pantone 151 is technically an ink color, not a paint color. There is no perfect paint equivalent. So the team constantly works to find the closest possible match, adjusting formulas and comparing swatches to keep UT’s signature orange consistent across campus. It’s a behind‑the‑scenes effort most people never think about, but it’s essential to maintaining the cohesive, unified appearance that defines Rocky Top.
Some projects, though, require not just skill but patience and artistry. Scattered across campus are ten Smokey statues, each one exposed to weather, crowds, and everyday wear. One painter on the team takes special responsibility for them. He spends a day to a day and a half on each statue, filling in scratches and dings, carefully matching paint colors, and restoring Smokey’s signature look. It’s meticulous work, but it keeps the statues looking sharp and photo‑ready a small but meaningful part of campus pride.
In the end, Paint Services’ work is more than maintenance. It’s identity. Every railing they brighten, every hallway they refresh, every Smokey statue they revive contributes to the visual language of UT. Their steady hands and careful craft ensure that Rocky Top doesn’t just feel like home it looks like it, too.