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Hidden art

Just a few feet away

SpringStBridgeEastFull

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Thousands of people pass by this exuberant graffiti installation every day and never see it (or maybe get just a tiny glimpse). It lies underneath Spring Street, alongside the railroad tracks that wend their way through the spaghetti junction where Spring, Dickerson, Main and Ellington Parkway all come together, and with Jefferson and I-24 just a little way away. Make that tens of thousands, maybe more, come close every day but never see it. I first caught glimpse of these murals from quite a distance – you can just see them from where Foster Street crosses the railroad tracks, but it was a longer distance down the tracks than I cared to walk. After much map studying and driving around, I realized the best access was right off Ellington, where there is a pull off area right under the bridge. There is also a good sized homeless encampment just south of the bridge, also hidden from view of the many thousands of drivers who pass through here each day.

Located under Spring Street, as it passes over the railroad tracks that parallel Ellington Parkway. The easiest way to reach this site is to get on Ellington at or north of Cleveland Street, heading south. Just past the Spring Street/I-24/I-65 exit, there is an area where you can pull under the bridge. It may also be possible to reach it by foot from the west side of the bridge just west of 5th and Main. Google Earth shows a gravel “road” starting from First Street North at A-1 Fun Cycle that parallels the tracks up to the spot – maybe if you have a dirt bike? To be clear, I have no idea if any of this is legal, and there is a large homeless encampment less than 100 feet south from where the murals are.

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Out of the shadows (for now)

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There used to be a Spanish language church on Trinity Lane, just a hundred feet or so from Gallatin. “Jesus te ama” – “Jesus loves you” declared the sign out front. It got knocked down. I’m putting my money on condos or apartments to take its place. But this has temporarily brought to light a graffiti mural that otherwise remained fairly well hidden. On the alleyway between Zophi Street and Trinity Lane (which Google declares to be “2036 Alley”), the backside of a small barn has become a canvas for the prolific local artist who goes by Rasmo, of the UH crew. The washed out psychedelic color palette is not something I’ve seen before here in Nashville, but I don’t claim to have seen everything. The man with the upturned cap is a common theme in UH installations.

Located in the alley behind 1076 Zophi Street. That’s a private residence, so I recommend parking at Checkers at 3001 Gallatin Pike, at the corner of Trinity Lane. The alley and the barn are just a few feet away.

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The usual suspects

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Sometimes, when searching for outdoor art, you wind up in less than pleasant places. The easternmost support of the Jefferson Street bridge, where Jefferson passes over an unnamed access road just before reaching Cowan Street, is not a place Nashvillians would ordinarily take tourists, and unless you work at one of the industrial sites nearby, nor is it a place Nashvillians would visit themselves. Unless you are homeless, or a graffiti artist. There’s plenty of evidence of people spending time here – discarded bottles, food wrappers, and the like, as well as a mattress it’s hard to imagine anyone sleeping on. But the seclusion that some homeless people appreciate also attracts graffiti artists, given access to a large concrete wall. There are many layers of tags here, with each artist painting over the previous one. If you ever visit, you’re likely to see some names other that what I captured when I found it. Someone has labeled the current crop “usual suspects,” hence the blog title.  There is also an interesting “eye” on a nearby pylon (featured below). I should note that the panel on the far right currently has a reference to sexual assault. It’s not clear what the meaning is – I have chosen not to include a close-up of that part.

Located under the Jefferson Street bridge just west of Cowan, next to the Cross Point Church. To reach it, take Oldham Street west towards the river and turn right on the access road just after the railroad tracks. Just before you get to the bridge, there’s a dirt road on the right that leads to the graffiti. I suspect this will get paved as part of the large construction project underway just past the bridge. This is an industrial area, so try not to park where you’ll block large trucks.

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Arctic colors

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This is one of those miracle shots, a mural that always has cars parked in front of it momentarily free. Around the corner, you’ll find Nomzilla and Pepperfire, two popular eateries with not nearly enough parking, so cars are a near constant at this spot. But the mural itself reflects another business in the building, Friendly Arctic Printing & Design, a company that makes custom t-shirts, hoodies and more. The mural represents a step in the printing process. Members of the Friendly Arctic team put the mural up a little over a year ago, and their Instagram page has a set of videos detailing the process.But wait, there’s more! Walk around to the back side to find a completely different but also quite colorful mural (see below). This work is signed by Sterbo, a tag used by a prolific local artist. The signature also contains the phrase “Betor Forever.” Betor is the tag of a prolific local graffiti artist who died last December. There is a very large memorial mural in his honor a few blocks north of these two murals which I will feature soon. (Again, cars tend to park in the way.)

Located at 1045 Granada Avenue, at the corner with Gallatin Avenue. The mural above faces Granada and is quite visible if you are driving north on Gallatin. Street parking is available, as well as parking in front and behind the building. Grab some grub, or maybe inquire about your newest favorite t-shirt, and enjoy the art!

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Dawn to dusk

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The Fatherland District mural, found on the backside of The Pavilion East, is a product of Eastside Murals, home base of artists Ian Lawrence and Sterling Goller-Brown. If I decided to dedicate myself to just their work, it would keep me busy for a while. The daylight scene (closeup below) depicts a dog and cyclist hanging out at Bill Martin’s grocery, while on the night side we see dancers in the Pavillion and one of the walkways of The Shoppes on Fatherland, which the Pavillion is part of. While I’m not fond of that spelling of “shops,” this cluster of eclectic small local shops is worth visiting, and tourists are some of their most important customers.

The address of The Pavillion East is 1006 Fatherland, but the front of it actually faces south 11th Street, on the 300 block, a little south of Fatherland. The best way to access the mural is to walk down the alleyway that runs south from Fatherland, halfway between 10th and 11th. You can also walk around back from the front side of the Pavillion. There is parking in front of the Pavillion, and street parking is relatively easy, particularly going south, away from Five Points.

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With mind and spirit soaring

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That’s the motto of the Episcopal School of Nashville, who commissioned Chip Boles to produce this mural to grace their parking lot/basketball court. Boles, whose mural work seems to be mostly in indoor locations, used the theme as inspiration for “Nashville Community,” as he has dubbed the mural. Familiar Nashville icons grace the mural, though I’ve seen more possums than raccoons myself! There is also a more abstract piece behind it that pushes the limits of the term “public art.” While the Boles mural is clearly visible from Woodland Street, the other piece (last picture at the bottom), while outdoors, can only be clearly seen if you get up on the porch of the school building, which you would need permission from the school operators to do. We’ll call it “hidden art.” My guess is it is also temporary student art.

Located at 419 Woodland Street, just west of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, near the corner of 5th and Woodland. The parking lot has a gate, but it is often open after hours. During the school day this is, of course, a working school, so you should probably not approach without permission. The Boles mural is fairly easy to see from the street if the gate is locked.

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The OMG/Wallpaper & Designer hidden gallery (Part 2, loading dock)

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More art from the backside of Old Made Good and Wallpaper & Designer Home Consignments. There are three walls here, though the loading bays on the east side are mostly devoid of art. Here on the north wall we see two panels, with some familiar names. On the left, the most prominent tag is Smok, which you see in a number of places around town. According to this Scene article, Smok is part of graffiti group known as the IA Crew. Whoever they are, they are prolific. The next panel is signed by Bryan Deese (Rex2) and Troy Duff (@duffomatic). Both artists are found all over town and have been featured on this blog before. On the south wall (see below), there’s a colorful piece with a name I’m not sure of. There’s also a spooky Troy Duff Nashville skyline and the first example in this blog of Ryan M. McCauley’s sleepless robot (RobotsNeverSleep). This particular Robot is not on his blog, but here is what looks like him painting this very robot on his Facebook page. And the only loading bay door with any art again has a tag that I must be misreading!

See the slideshow for individual pieces, and Part 1 for more information. See pin for Part 1 on the map.

Located at 3701 Gallatin Pike. OMG has scads and scads of parking and the area behind 3701 where the art is seems to be empty most of the time.

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