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nashville public art

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

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Nashville skyline

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I have no clue who did this. There is a small apartment building on Fisk Street, just off Charlotte, that has this mural. It depicts the Nashville skyline and is tagged “Act Now.” This mural shows up in a Google street view from 2016, which I think is its origin year. Again, more business owners and more public officials are figuring out the value of public art, so more stuff appears.

At 405 Fisk Street. This is a small apartment building behind Fattoush Cafe and Jiffy Lube. Plenty of parking at Fattoush, so grab some grub and enjoy the art!

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Batter up!

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The bathrooms at the easternmost baseball fields in Shelby Park are a fair more spectacular than all the others. Two artists who go by Sterbo and Downs have graced this modest cinder block building with art and a name. On the east side, we see a pitcher and a batter facing off, while on the west we find a declaration of local pride, Shelby Bottoms style. The doors to the bathrooms are also fancied up a bit.

Located, as the building declares, at 1801 Davidson Street. Even Google Maps doesn’t  know this street name. The bathroom is found at the far east and south of Shelby Park, close to the river, just before you get to the railroad trellis. Plenty of free parking in the park, though you may have to walk a bit. If there are no games in action, the bathrooms may be found behind locked gates.

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Jump in, the water’s fine!

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I’ve been meaning to blog about this one for a long time, but the identity of the gentleman in this Michael Cooper (Murals & More) piece stymied me. The identity of the woman was easy to figure out. That’s Anne Brown, owner of The Arts Company, a gallery on Fifth Avenue. I should have known who the gentleman was. He is, after all, “The man behind the Sounds new ballpark.” That’s Ronald Gobbell, architect and president emeritus of Gobbell Hays Partners, an architectural firm that owns the building.

Located at 215 5th Avenue North. The mural actually faces St. Cloud Alley, on the back (west) side of the building. St. Cloud intersects with the 500 block of Church Street. This is downtown, so lots of parking, none of it free. There is a paid lot right in front of the mural. On the other side of the lot is Forget the past and a couple other murals I haven’t blogged about yet. Make it all part of your downtown art crawl, held each first Saturday of the month.

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Writing the way to world peace

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Renda Writer is an artist who is doing his part for world peace by bringing this simple mantra to walls around the country. A lot of his other art also makes use of words and strong lines. Ours, found on the long-derelict Porter Road gas station that now houses Arbor Springs Lawn Care and Landscaping, went up in September. The list of sites on his blog is a little out of date as it ends in August of this year, but it shows that he’s been at this for a couple of years with sites all over the country. One of his murals recently made a brief appearance in a Square Capital ad (0:10 and 0:31), and they are certainly all selfie/portrait ready.

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Located at 1200 Porter Road, at the corner with Greenwood Avenue. Vinyl Tap in the old Family Wash site is across the street on Greenwood, while Cafe Roze is catty-corner across Porter, and Southen Grist Brewing is directly across Porter. All of which explains why the parking you see in the picture is now paid parking. Welcome to Nashville. There is some limited street parking on Greenwood.

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Yazoo Brewery, Herb Williams edition

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Yazoo Brewery has a lot of outdoor art. Two artists have contributed to this. In this post, I focus on the works of Herb Williams, and in a later post, I’ll write about the pieces done by Michael Cooper of Murals and More. When I went inside to ask who had done the two murals above, I was told something like “Doug Herbert,” who was described as “the guy who does the crayon art.” I should have known. Hidden away in the loading dock area is one of Williams’s signature small striped animals, a bear in this case. (See below.) What will happen to this art is unclear. Yazoo is selling its current location, though it’s destination is unclear. The murals above might just go with them. They are metal panels attached to the wall and could be easily moved. Still, we have to call this endangered art.

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Located at 910 Division Street. The murals above are on the west side of the building, facing Overton Street. The small bear below is on the east side of the building, on one of the loading dock bays. This is the Gulch area, so lots of parking, some of it free. Yazoo has some parking for customers. There’s free street parking one block over on 10th, and most of the Gulch lots offer one-hour free parking. There’s also plenty of paid parking on neighboring blocks.

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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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Glyph man

This unusual face has a striking resemblance to the Mayan glyph for balam, the word for “jaguar” and “strength.” The glyph has fangs and is more cat-like, but the pattern of dots and lack of adornment, along with the general shape, suggests a humanized balam. Or maybe it’s just random graffiti.

Located at 1309 McGavock Pike, on the back side of Relax and Wrap Barber and Style (well, that’s what the sign says – on the internet, it’s known and Relaxing Wraps Barber and Style.) There’s plenty of parking here and across the street, though often full with partons of the Village Pub and Garden. Baily and Cato, sadly, has closed. Get a cut, grab some grub, and enjoy the art!

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