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Coloring the community

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The folks who own East Nashville BBQ Company may or may not have the very most colorful BBQ shack around, but they are certainly contenders. Many hands went into this mural, which is how artist Andee Rudloff often does things. In this project and others, such as the one featured in Down by the river, she contracted with a group of people who collaborated with her on both the design and the production. Here, the main collaborators were the children and families of the Boys and Girls Club of Middle Tennesee (Cleveland Park Club) and the Cleaveland Park Neighborhood Association. It’s also a Nashville Metro Arts Commision project, which helped fund it through its THRIVE Community Arts Project. There were other sponsors as well – check the list of names on the sign that’s featured in the slideshow below. As is often true with Rudloff’s collaborative works, there’s a video showing how the mural came together (the video is by Stacey Irvin). It shows Rudloff brainstorming with the kids, then painting the black and white outline of the mural, followed by the community pitching in to fill in the white spaces with color. It all came together June 2, 2016, and continues as a colorful marker of community spirit. Added bonus: There’s a couple of pigs out front – see the slideshow.

UPDATE: This building has been demolished, and the mural with it. No word on the pigs.

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Located at 829 Lischey Avenue, at the southeast corner of Lischey and Cleveland Street. The mural faces west towards Lischey. There is parking at the BBQ place and some street parking on Lischey. Load up on pork and enjoy the art!

 

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From me to you

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Some unusual presentation for a (somewhat) unusual mural. This Nashville Walls Project mural across the street from the Gulch version of Barista Parlor is really two murals joined together, and is also found in a cramped alleyway where it’s impossible to get a full direct shot. Thus my header photo is a merged shot, one from the left, one from the right, each featuring one of the different artists. On the left, one of the colorful geometric math problems Nathan Brown is known for. On the right, a human figure in the characteristic style of Chris Zidek, who signs his work Zidekahedron. This mural took some time to complete. I went by several times to see if it was finished. If there were paint supplies left next to the wall, I figured it wasn’t. I did, however, catch Brown at work one day – you can see that in the slideshow of close-ups below.

UPDATE: This art has been replaced. There is now a Nathan Brown piece where the Chris Zidek work was located, and a hand-painted sign where the Brown piece used to be. You can find the new Brown mural in The new art of Patagonia. I’ll post about the sign at a later date.

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Located at 601 Overton Street. The mural actually faces Mansion Street, on the south side of the Turner Supply Company building. Mansion Street is not much more than an alley and has prominent No Parking signs. You can put some coins in the meters along Overton, but most of the nearby paid lots have one-hour free parking to encourage shopping in the Gulch, so make it part of your Gulch crawl and enjoy the art!

 

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300

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This is post number 300. For this post, I’m updating on the art I know is now gone. The photo above is an Emily Miller piece once found at the corner of Main and McFerrin. Much of Miller’s work is deliberately temporary, drawn on paper and glued to outdoor walls. Her pieces are more durable than you might think, however, and in fact, this one was deliberately removed when the building was repainted. That’s the fate of most of the works listed here – they have been painted over. Others are gone because the building they stood on is gone.

The blog itself is getting a little better all the time. Statistics wise, since I started it in July 2016, 5450 people have visited the blog for a total of 11,006 page views. Modest, but it has been growing. From a couple hundred views a month when I got started, 800 and 900 has become common, it looks like the blog is about to close in on the second month in a row and third overall for more than 1000 views. The empire grows slowly.

All art is temporary, outdoor art in particular. A list, probably incomplete, of art I have chronicled that is gone or substantially erased. (I will be updating these posts in the coming weeks):

Ask not who the wrecking ball calls for (one building destroyed, another painted over)

The Vape USA Gallery (painted over)

The doomed graffiti wars of Madison Mills (painted over)

Unsafe at any speed (painted over)

Ch-ch-ch-changes! (removed – the Miller piece above)

The Carquest Gallery, Part 1; The Carquest Gallery, Part 2 (partially painted over)

Where you at?! (painted over)

Color me gone – soon (building destroyed)

The ghost of craft beers past (painted over)

A flower grows in East Nashville (painted over; replaced with new mural)

Going, going gone (painted over)

Sorry you missed the show (painted over)

Children’s Art on Jefferson Street (removed)

Super visible, very temporary, hard to reach (replaced with a billboard)

Woodland creatures, Part 1 (severely deteriorated, and then removed)

The Zoop Gallery on 8th South (removed and/or deteriorated, replaced)

The ruins of 21st and Linden (lost to construction)

Oz Arts Inside/Out, Part 2 (removed)

On imagined seas (painted over, replaced with new mural)

Big Blue (painted over, replaced with new sign)

Frutas! (partially painted over, replaced with new mural)

Wanda (painted over, replaced with new mural)

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Mystery of the Spheres

Colonial Liquor

Eighth Avenue South has art but is not as rich as some other neighborhoods. This is in keeping with its mix of national chains, which tend to discourage public art, and independent businesses, which tend to encourage it. A very obvious example of the later, if you are traveling south on 8th, is this impossible to miss piece on the side of Colonial Liquors. This trippy image complete with crystals and a starry firmament is a product of the ever-prolific Eastside Murals. The backside of the building has a major graffiti installation I’ll feature later.

UPDATE: This mural has since been covered over by a new mural featured in George Jones rides a lawnmower

Located at 2401 Franklin Pike (aka 8th Avenue South). The mural is on the north side of the building, facing Hillview Heights. A fair amount of parking is available at Colonial Liquor, and a great deal is to be found across the street at Little Caesars. You have to go about half a block west on Hillview Height to find street parking. Grab some wine, get some pizza, and enjoy the art!

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One mural down, one mural up

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Some time ago, many months ago, I remember driving down 12th Avenue past Whiskey Kitchen and catching out of the corner of my eye a large mural of a human figure. I thought, “Need to come back and photograph that.” I was slow about it, and when I finally went back I was quite surprised when instead of a human figure, I saw this geometric mural instead. Had I imagined the other mural? Had I misremembered its location? No, just testimony to the ephemeral nature of outdoor art. The piece above is by Chris Zidek, who signs his work Zidekahedron. He’s been featured here before, in such pieces as the octopus in Uncovered! And he has other new work which I’ll be posting about soon. This particular piece was sponsored by the local office of Google Fiber, which as I have mentioned before has been busy sponsoring outdoor art. The human figure was a piece by Brian Wooden, he of the headless well-dressed men. The picture below is a February 2017 Google street view image. You can also see it on Wooden’s Instagram page. Art comes, art goes.

Located at 118 12th Avenue South. The mural actually faces the 1100 block of McGavock Street, downhill from 12th. Most of the parking in the immediate area belongs to local businesses, though there is free one-hour parking a few blocks south in the Gulch proper, as well as paid lots. Make it part of your visit to one of the bars and restaurants within view of the mural!

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An update and a goodbye

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I’ve been meaning to update Have a beer! A really big beer! for some time, as a new mural was added (above) facing the original, and either I missed the one on the back wall the first time, or it got added later. In any event, the one above is quite appropriate, because unless you get there before close on Wednesday (November 15, 2017), you will have, in fact, missed The Hop Stop, which is set to close for good that night. The new proprietors plan a craft brewery designed to cater to Hop Stop customers. Perhaps then they will only make changes to the name in the three murals, but that remains to be seen. While not signed, these two are presumably the work of Anthony Billups, who did the one featured in “Have a beer!” See the pin for that post on the map.

UPDATE: This has been painted over.

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Located at 2909B and 2913 Gallatin Pike. The mural above is on the south wall of 2913, home of East Tattoo Collective. The one below is on the back, western side of 2909B where The Hop Stop will be located for one more day. Plenty of parking – and some good food and some good beer if you’re really quick!

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Back in the alley

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Some weeks ago, a set of UH crew works appeared in the alley between Main and Woodland on the backside of the building that houses Main Street Liquors, Main Street Market, and Transmission Exchange. This is obviously permitted work – tags this elaborate take time to install, and this is a fairly public place. Some business owners have figured out the way to avoid random graffiti is to promote murals and more elaborate graffiti art. This appears to be the case here. The UH crew has done other work in this alley, notably And we’re back!. See below for the rest of the installation. There is also an interesting tag on a gate/door across from this installation on the other side of the alley.

UPDATE: These tags have been replaced by a new set. See A return to the alley. Also, Transmission Exchange has been replaced with Crazy Gnomw Brewery.

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Located at 944 Main Street. The installation is in fact in the alley, which can be accessed from 10th Street or McFerrin Avenue. There is some parking in this alley if you are just visiting.

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