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nashville public art

Nashville murals, street art, graffiti, signs, sculptures and more

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November 2016

The Gallatin and Straightway Gallery (Part 2)

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The Hookah Kings front wall is part of the dense graffiti art found at the corner of Gallatin and Straightway. At least some of the art on this wall predates Hookah Kings, which only opened about a month ago, while some of this art is at least a couple years old. The “my name is” tag belongs to Mobe Oner, who notes in a post on his Facebook page that a portrait he did is now covered over by the Kid Oak image seen below (on the north wall of Jerry’s Market), though apparently the lost image was painted over by something else before the Kid Oak image went up. Such are the perils of outdoor art. Scoot over to Oner’s page to see the lost work. Kid Oak, on the other hand, is a fairly common sight in Nashville, with an Instagram page for various appearances.

Part 1

Located at 1401 Gallatin Avenue, at the corner with Straightway Avenue. This works here faces Gallatin, on the east side of the road. Some parking at Jerry’s, as well as some street parking on Straightway. See Part 1 on the map for the pin.img_5080-2

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Order up!

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Appropriate I think to this time of feasting, here’s the mural on the back wall of Nashville Biscuit House. I love the details in this mural, such as the two guys staring at their phones and the elaborate tattoo on the arm of the girl working at her laptop. The mural looks for all the world like what you find in a coffee shop if the coffee shop was outdoors and there happened to be a motorcycle cop who was just leaving. On the NBH web page, there is no information about the mural, and on their Facebook page I found only that the mural was done four years ago (roughly late 2012) by “Kate.” No signature is visible on the mural itself. The mural is certainly popular. Search for “Nashville Biscuit House mural” in your favorite search engine and you’ll find lots of people who’ve posted about it. NBH is a Southern/Meat&3 place that I can’t recommend enough. They are open for breakfast and lunch only, Monday through Saturday, and be ready to stand in line on Saturday.

Located at 805 Gallatin Avenue. The mural is on the back (east) side of the building, so this counts as hidden art. If you want an unobstructed view, go when the restaurant is closed, because otherwise the parking lot is fairly full or completely full. Make a point of stopping by for a bite, then walk around back and check out the art!

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The Gallatin and Straightway Gallery (Part 1)

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Sometimes you have to start small. There are certain sites around town that are intimidating to tackle because there is simply so much art. One place I drive by a lot is Jerry’s Market on Gallatin and it’s impossible not to notice that it and the surrounding buildings have a lot of art on them. Get out of your car, though, and you’ll discover there’s a lot more than you probably realize. Jerry’s Market, Hookah Kings Lounge, Street Customs, and (to a lesser extent) Collision Repair Service are simply bursting with art. It’s way too much to manage in one blog post. So I.m starting small with this Dustin Spagnola piece. Spagnola is an Ashville, NC artist who has done a fair amount of street art. The flamenco dancer is a theme he has used elsewhere. He’s one more example of how Nashville is not just a canvas for local artists but has become a destination for artists around the country and around the world.

Part 2

Located at 1401 Gallatin Avenue, at the corner with Straightway Avenue. This Spagnola piece faces Gallatin, on the east side of the road. Some parking at Jerry’s, as well as some street parking on Straightway.

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There’s something about that name

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This piece, on the south wall of Twelfth and Porter, went up almost precisely two years ago (your intrepid blogger aims always to be current) and is credited to the artist Kim Kennedy. Try looking for the “artist Kim Kennedy” in your favorite search engine. I found at least four. But I nailed it down to this woman, who is both a visual artist and a musician. I kind of like the work of Australian artist Kim Kennedy as well, but he did not come to Nashville to make this mural. The Kim Kennedy who made this mural is Nashville-based, so it wasn’t such a long commute. The musician depicted in the mural is Dave Baker, and, wouldn’t you know, there’s more than one musician by that name as well. The Dave Baker depicted here is a Nashville guitarist – but there’s also a recently deceased jazz composer by that name as well (who sported quite the beard himself).

Located, where else, at the intersection of Twelfth Avenue North and Porter Street. Parking during the day is fairly easy in this area, but at night you might have to compete with people going to a show.

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The map, new and improved!

So I’ve been posting a little less because I’ve been working on the map. I figured out how to add photos to the map markers. Now bear with me, this is complicated. In the edit box for the marker, there’s a camera icon. You click on that and you can upload a photo. I know! Who would have ever imagined? Anyway, now when you click on a marker, you see a photo, as well as a link to the relevant blog post. All future markers will have photos as well. This should make for a more useful map.

Coming soon – more art!

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Two Lions

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Call this endangered art. These two lions on their columns grace the entrance of Auto Express on Charlotte Avenue. Problem is, Auto Express seems to be very much out of business, and a sign indicates that the property is available. Given how development has been exploding on Charlotte, this blog post may soon be some of the only evidence that these two creatures ever did battle over a steering wheel.

Located at 3324 Charlotte Avenue. The business is closed, so parking is easy to come by. I’d suggest you shop for a new car, but you’ll have to do it somewhere else.

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There be dragons among us

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All you have to do in Nashville to find public art is just drive around. To find something you haven’t seen before, just take a corner you haven’t taken before. There’s a good chance you’ll find something. I’ve done a lot of that the last few days and have a fair amount of new material. Now, Eli the Dragon here is not new. It’s been gracing the front of the Nashville Children’s Theater since 2007. It’s just new to me. I admit I have been remiss and not gone to any productions at the theater, and it was only a trip to the Metro offices at the Howard School behind the theater that alerted me to this piece. It’s by Zophia Ann Kneiss, and has won an award from no less than the American Galvanizers Association for excellence in hot-dip galvanizing! Bet not many of you can say you’ve won such an award. The theater uses a dragon as its mascot, so the statue makes lots of sense.

Located at 25 Middleton Street, right out in front of the theater as you can see from the picture. Plenty of parking as long as there’s not a show, or you can park round back at the Howard School, and some street parking is available. And hey, don’t be like me. Catch a show sometime!

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