Wender·Vista
Memphis
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
on the eastern bluff above the Mississippi

Memphis

— — the city that taught the century how to sound.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Beale Street and Sun Studio and the room at Stax where the Memphis sound was cut. The river bends wide here, and the bluff above it has held a port since 1819. From the studio, the city that gave the century blues, soul, and rock and roll, and the Lorraine Motel balcony that still asks the country a question.

from the studio
Memphis
— bring it home

Memphis, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Memphis

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Memphis sits on the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff above the Mississippi River in southwest Tennessee, about 350 kilometres west of Nashville. Founded in 1819 and named for the ancient Egyptian capital on the Nile, the city anchors a metropolitan population of roughly 1.3 million across Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The Wolf and Loosahatchie rivers meet the Mississippi here, and the bluff has been a river port since long before incorporation, drawing cotton, lumber, and freight that still moves through the modern port today.

— the year

Sun Studio opened at 706 Union Avenue in 1950 and recorded Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins inside a single decade. Stax Records, founded in 1957 in a converted Capitol Theatre on McLemore Avenue, built the southern soul catalogue with Otis Redding and Booker T. and the M.G.s. The Memphis in May festival fills the river park each spring, and the W.C. Handy statue on Beale honours the man who first put the blues on the page.

— the visit

Graceland in the Whitehaven neighbourhood draws over 600,000 visitors a year and sits about 15 kilometres south of downtown. The National Civil Rights Museum, built around the preserved Lorraine Motel where Dr. King was assassinated in 1968, anchors the South Main district. Beale Street runs three blocks from Second to Fourth and stays loud most nights. The Memphis Riverboats leave from Beale Street Landing for sunset cruises along the bluff between April and October.

— where
United States · Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee
— elevation
102 m · 337 ft
— position
35.1495° N · 90.0490° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
2 km E
Sun Studio
recording studio
5 km S
Stax Museum
music museum
15 km S
Graceland
historic home
1 km S
National Civil Rights Museum
museum
1 km W
Mud Island
river park
N
Memphis
Sun Studio
Stax Museum
Graceland
National Civil Rights Museum
Mud Island
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Memphis — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The city was named in 1819 for the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile, drawing a parallel between the Mississippi and the great river of antiquity. The classical naming was common across the early American republic.

Sun Studio recorded Elvis Presley in 1954 and helped open rock and roll. Stax Records built southern soul through the 1960s with Otis Redding and Booker T. The blues moved out of Beale Street earlier still.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. The motel was preserved and now anchors the National Civil Rights Museum on Mulberry Street.

Yes. The city sits on the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi, about 350 kilometres west of Nashville. The bluff has been a river port since before incorporation in 1819.

Memphis barbecue is dry-rubbed pork shoulder or pork ribs, slow-cooked over hardwood and served with or without a tomato-vinegar sauce on the side. The annual Memphis in May contest draws teams from across the country.

Graceland sits in the Whitehaven neighbourhood about 15 kilometres south of downtown Memphis. The 14-acre estate was Elvis Presley's home from 1957 until his death in 1977 and opened to the public in 1982.

— about the piece in your home

Memphis carries strong feeling for people who grew up on Beale Street, in Whitehaven, or in the river neighborhoods. A Small or Medium tile reads with quiet weight; a Coaster with a handwritten note from the studio travels well.

The painted Memphis sits cleanly in Jewel-tone Maximalist, Modern Soul-era, and warm Mid-century rooms. The river-blue and bourbon-amber palette holds against walnut, brass, and worn leather without crowding them.

Yes. Listening rooms, home studios, and vinyl corners lean on art that names a city. A Medium Memphis tile above a turntable or behind a speaker pair anchors the room.

A single Large carries a sofa or long console on its own. For a wider wall a 4-tile Mural extends the bluff line; a 9-tile Mural fills a feature wall in a music room.

Yes, with Dura Satin or Matte. Both resist water and steam and clean with a microfibre cloth. Glossy is the show finish for framed wall art in dry rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth with water is enough. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective finish, so normal cleaning will not lift it. Avoid abrasive pads.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is painted in the studio's own visual language and produced in-house. There is no licensing and no third-party art; Reid Wender curates each place into the atlas.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.