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

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Bare Bones Butcher

Cow mural street art sign Nashville

Some months before Bare Bones Butcher opened, it seemed likely a butcher was going into the new building at 51st and Illinois in The Nations. Either that or maybe a Mexican folk art store. Their quite visible sign (by their own account) is a product of I Saw The Sign, Meghan Wood’s hand-lettered sign and mural company. Their work is all over town and you’ve no doubt shopped at one of their clients, or at least driven on the interstate near the football stadium. While their work is generally more understated than that of many of our local muralists, by helping a number of local businesses up their graphics game, I Saw The Sign has become an important contributor to Nashville’s “look.”

Located at 906 51st Avenue North. There is parking on the backside of the building and on nearby side streets. Get you some fresh cuts and enjoy the art!

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First One

Sign mural street art Nashville

Who doesn’t love a great sign? First One Market on East Old Hickory Boulevard has a wonderfully chaotic sign, welcoming friends, extolling revolution, letting you know who’s boss (well, someone is boss, it’s not really clear) and assuring you that this is the place you can get your phone charged. Is the fist raised in protest holding a cup with a straw, or a walkie-talkie? I’m not sure, but I am sure it qualifies as art. I discovered this, by the way, when I decided to drive the entirety of Old Hickory Boulevard, minus of course the part that lies beneath the waters of Percy Priest Lake. Take a day and give it a try. It’s a great way to really get a grasp on the diversity of Nashville and Davidson County.

Located at 660 East Old Hickory Boulevard. The mural/sign is on the east side of the building. There is plenty of parking. Load up on cheap tobacco and beer and enjoy the art!

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Little’s of Germantown

Little's mural Nashville Street art

Nashville lies far from any ocean, but there are these things called airplanes, and since 1955 Little’s Fish Company in the heart of Germantown has been providing fresh fish to the people of Nashville. As a long-standing family business in this historic neighborhood, it’s only appropriate that Historic Germantown Nashville (the local neighborhood association) would choose it as the canvas when they received a $5,100 Creative Placemaking grant from the Tennesee Art Commission. Five small murals cover filled-in windows. Starting at the left, Michelle Farro’s piece depicts the historic Church of the Assumption, founded by German Catholics in 1859. Next, a Diamond Studio (Yvette Renée & Mark Cowden) piece depicts the annual neighborhood Octoberfest. The third piece, which depicts a Germantown street leading to the State Capitol, is signed by Jake and Hana Elliott, who are also known as WHAT. Creative Group. Sometimes obscured by a bush is the next piece by Shea Moore (you’ll need to scroll down), who is both a painter and a makeup artist. Her piece depicts various people of Germantown. Last is a piece by Audie Adams, who is part of the Thoughts Manifested crew. His piece depicts the founder of Little’s and acknowledges the building’s origins as an office of the Salvation Army.

This blog post would have been a much harder slog to research without this article from the late, lamented Nashville Arts by Peter Chawaga.

Located at 1234 6th Avenue North. The murals face Monroe Street, on the north side of the building. Street parking is available. Load up on fresh fish and enjoy the art!

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The Fountain of Juice

Juice mural street art Nashville

On rapidly developing 51st Ave North in the heart of The Nations, you have to work to stand out. The Fountain of Juice is hard to miss with this mural by North Carolina artist Alyson Record. The Fountain of Juice makes and sells, guess what, juices, and uses raw fruits and vegetables grown organically from local sources. The mural thus is a representation of the raw materials Fountain of Juice uses to make its products. It’s reminiscent of a similar mural that’s just a few blocks away on the side of Miel. It too features the locally grown produce used in their menu and features mushrooms and flowers as well. It is somewhat blocked in this picture, but the mural is signed @ajoy.art, which leads to Record’s Instagram page, where you can find a story showing the process of producing the mural.

Located at 901 51st Avenue North. There is some parking in the back of the building, and street parking on Michigan and Illinois Avenues, north and south of the building. The mural is on the north side of the building. Get you some health juice and enjoy the art!

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More wings, less waiting

Wings mural street art Nashville

It seems that Eddie’s Cee Bee Food Store on Lafayette has closed for good, but that hasn’t stopped the artist who goes by jamersonsgc from turning it into his personal canvas. The full bee (an update) is found one side, these wings on another, and there’s more of his work around back on the loading dock I haven’t blogged about yet (in part because I’m not sure if it’s finished). The “more wings, less waiting” refers both to the sheer size (see the SUV for scale) and the fact that unlike certain other wings, you are not likely to have to wait in line to get your picture with these. Of course, now that Cee Bee’s has closed, how long these wings will be there is anybody’s guess, so get your selfie soon!

Located at 109 Lafayette Street. The mural faces the parking lot, on the north side of the building looking towards Wharf Avenue. Obviously, there is lots of available parking.

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Flags of the Americas

Flags & fruit mural street art Nashville

I continue to believe that one of the more underappreciated art forms in Nashville is the mural scene that plays out on the walls of many Latino businesses. This one, located on what Google thinks is Linbar Fruit Market but whose sign says Linbar Super Mercado, is a José F. Vargas work. Vargas is one of the more prolific artists in this scene, and while he doesn’t seem to have a web presence, he always includes his phone number in his signature in case you want to hire him. The flags that rise above the fruit and various drinks are, in order, the flags of Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Estados Unidos, Columbia, and Cuba. I left the door and the yellow poles in the photo because I think the whole combination is a collective work of art. They go together. (By the way, in Spanish, “supermercado” is one word. But some Latino grocery stores in Nashville break up the word. Not sure why.)

Located at 238 Largo Drive, at the corner with Harding Place. This is just a couple blocks east of I-24. Linbar Super Mercado has parking. The mural is on the south side of the building. If you drive a block or so down Largo, you’ll find some more murals by the same artist.

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The full bee (an update)

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I don’t think I have ever posted the same piece twice. But it seems that the bee on the outside wall of Eddie’s Cee Bee Food Store done by jamersonsgc which I featured in Low key bee was not even half finished! In retrospect, I should have guessed from the grey darker background area around the bee that maybe something else was planned, but the idea that the bee, which was finished, would then have a complex background added to it, did not occur to me. And this is basically twice the mural it was before, so I think I need to do more than just update the photo on the original blog post. Seriously, there was no flower, no bee nest cells, and the only Batman Building was on the face of the bee. I’d say this is a much stronger background for your next Instagram portrait, so head on down to Cee Bee’s! The last I checked there was also an obviously half-finished mural on the back of Cee Bee’s apparently by the same artist – I’m going to be much more patient posting about it!

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Located at 109 Lafayette Street. The mural faces Lafayette. Cee Bee is a grocery store and has plenty of parking. Load up on sundries and enjoy the art!

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