Incoming freshmen and people new to the area may get an interesting introduction to Johnson City through a new and unique tour bus company.
Ashleigh Bunn, who got her master’s degree in liberal studies from ETSU, has begun work, along with Tyler Gavigan, supervisor of recycling at ETSU, and Jeremiah Jenkins, an ETSU alumnus, on the Art Bus project. The three are converting an old bus into a unique tool to entertain and educate people in the area.
“I like to call it edutainment” said Bunn who is the projects organizer.
Bunn who worked for the San Francisco Electric Tour Company and Banjo Billy’s Bus Tours in Boulder, Colo., is starting a tour bus company that will concentrate on tours that center around Johnson City’s seedy past, most notably its reputation for bootlegging and speakeasies in the ’20s. Bunn said the bus itself will resemble a “speak-easy on wheels”. She would like to give tours to incoming ETSU freshmen, but everyone would be welcome.
She got the idea from a company in Asheville, N.C. called LaZoom tours, which takes riders on a journey through the city’s historical sites and features comedy and music as well. Bunn would like to do a similar tour in Johnson City.
“I really think the bus and the tours that we’ll offer will portray the historical aspect of our little corner of Appalachia and rekindle that sense of community,” said Bunn.
She purchased the bus from the Sullivan County School System. The group began remodeling the bus this past weekend. Their goal is to have the outside of the bus finished in time for Johnson City’s annual Christmas parade and the entire bus finished by next spring.
“There is some discussion of cutting off the top (of the bus) or part of it,” Bunn said. “We’ll definitely be retro-fitting some of the exterior and painting the outside and we’ll probably wall paper and panel the inside.”
Jeremiah Jenkins will be working mainly on the inside of the bus; he will transform the interior and give it 1920’s flair. Jenkins graduated from ETSU in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in sculpture and ceramics, and he has a master’s degree from San Francisco Institute of Art “I’m interested in seeing what I can do with the interior of a bus,” he said. “It makes this a special challenge for me.”
Tyler Gavigan, who is the recycling supervisor at ETSU, will also lend a hand to the project. They plan to use as many recycled materials as possible in the bus’ construction. The recycled material should cut costs and make it an eco-friendly undertaking.

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