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Endangered art

Dangerous steps

Graffiti tags street art Nashville

The complex at 1900 Warner, prominently labeled “Mimms Center,” was once the home of Malcolm and Associates, a lighting company, but it is now empty, though apparently it was recently purchased by developers. Which means the graffiti on the back side is not likely to survive much longer. I call this “dangerous steps” because I only made it to the top of the first set of steps. I would have had to cross a metal roof to get to the next set but said roof had lost its shingles and has rotted through in some spots, and I had no intention of putting my weight on it. I’ve also included a couple of less elaborate tags on the building, including one half hidden by a huge metal slab I decided not to try to move.

Located at 627 19th Avenue North/1900 Warner Street, within view of the Norf Wall Gallery. The tags are on the 19th Ave side, on the north side of the building. This is an abandoned industrial site, so be careful. It’s also likely to be a construction site soon.

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The old Turnip Green/Plateone building 

Colored block mural street art NashvilleChange is constant in Nashville’s boom times. Turnip Green Creative Reuse and Plateone Printmaking moved out of their space on 4th Street and moved to the eastside on Woodland. So the fate of the art on their old building is uncertain, what with a “for sale or lease” sign in the window. The work above, a Seth Prestwood (@moldymonk) piece, is a sign for Turnip Green, as is much of the rest of the art on the building. No Turnip Green, no need for that art. Call this endangered art. This mural is on the north side of the building, the trees below on the south facing Lea Street. The other pieces below are around back, at the west side facing the alley. The quote at the bottom is now completely covered in vine.

Located at 535 South 4th Street at the corner of Lea Avenue, across the street from Rocketown. Alley parking available on the weekend in the day, but most of the time only paid parking is available, as this is downtown.

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Boo!

Skull mural street art Nashville
One of the odder murals in town is this one, at the entrance to what had been the Slaughterhouse on Sixth Avenue. Skulls, lots and lots of skulls. It’s hard to say how long this will be here. There are two merged buildings here, and the other one is for sale. It’s not clear if this part is included, but even if not, it’s hard to imagine that property a stone’s throw from the convention center is going to keep a skull motif for long. For its part, Slaughterhouse itself has moved out to Lebanon Pike. I’d say this is definitely endangered art.

UPDATE: The mural has been dismantled as the building undergoes construction, but its pieces are still there, helping to block entrance to the site.

Located at 423 Sixth Avenue South, behind the Central Police Precinct building. You can probably park long enough for a quick peek in the lot of the office building across the street, but this is downtown, so good luck.

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The doomed graffiti wars of Madison Mills

Blue graffiti tag street art mural NashvilleLook closely at the blue tag above. It lies on top of a larger gray tag, which has been scribbled out. Below is another tag on the old factory that, while not covered, has also been scribbled over.

graffiti tags street art mural Nashville
The back and forth mirrors the back and forth over the future of this site. Plans for a major development with hundreds of new apartments have been abandoned due to solid opposition from neighbors and concerns over traffic. However, it’s impossible to imagine this property will simply sit untouched, an eternal canvas for taggers. It’s bound to give way when the right project comes along. There are a number of tags around the complex; below are some of the most interesting. The two above are on the east side, alongside the Station 40 apartments, as is the black and white face below. The next two below are on the west side, and the one at the bottom, which is the first entry from the ongoing “moist” campaign found around town, is on the front side facing Charlotte.

UPDATE: Most of this has been painted over, though a few new tags have appeared.

Located at 4101 Charlotte Avenue. Parking available at Station 40, at the complex with Beer Pale and Flip Burger, and on the factory grounds itself. The parking at the 42nd Avenue entrance to the factory grounds is apparently being used as overflow for Flip Burger and other nearby businesses. Use caution as it is an abandoned industrial site.

graffiti face street art mural Nashville
Maroon graffiti tag street art mural Nashvillegraffiti tag street art mural Nashville
graffiti tag street art mural Nashville

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Proudly serving Nashville!

Colorful mural sigh street art Nashville
On the back side of the Delta Express convenience store on West End, right up against the on-ramp from 440, is this colorful installation. It seems perhaps to be a Mountain Dew ad, for a logo for the soda is at the far north end of the wall. While quite visible to anyone headed east on West End or taking that on-ramp, it’s fenced off from any closer inspection. The paint has begun to peel — not quite enough to qualify as endangered art, but it needs some work or the damage will be visible even from a distance before long. No obvious signature.

UPDATE: This store is closed, so this goes in the endangered art category.

Located on the back (west) wall of the Delta Express at 3410 West End Avenue. Adequate parking at the store, but as noted, only visible from a distance through a fence.

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Ask not who the wrecking ball calls for

Graffiti tags street art mural Nashville

I had to actually pull aside a mattress that was blocking this interesting installation on a small gray building on Hart Street. Despite a “no dumping” sign, some people seem to have been doing just that. The fate of this piece is uncertain. I found it while taking pictures of the tags on the building next door, which sports a zoning change meeting sign proposing a switch from industrial-warehouse to mixed use. The building below with tags is almost certainly a goner; the fate of its neighbor and the piece above remains to be seen.

UPDATE: Not sure why I didn’t notice before, but that’s a clear TBS crew tag in the top right.

UPDATE: The building below has been demolished, and the building above has been painted over.

Located on the west side of the building at 1260 Hart Street. The building below is at the corner of Hart and 2nd Avenue South, for the time being. Makeshift street parking nearby. Up the hill on 3rd Avenue are the enormous installations on the Unique Autos building. I’ll feature those soon.

Graffiti tags street art Nashville

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Big MaMa doesn’t work here any more

Restaurant sign with food street art Nashville
Up Clarksville Highway, there isn’t a lot of public art of any kind. Some neighborhoods are dense with public art, official or otherwise — this one isn’t. But there is this enthusiastic sign advertising the grub at Big MaMa’s! Unfortunately, Big MaMa’s is closed and there’s a For Sale sign on the door. So the fate of the restaurant and this mural is uncertain.

Located on the south wall of Joelton Plaza on the 5500 block of Clarksville Highway. Lots of parking, but no burgers at Big MaMa’s, at least for the moment.

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