Hey, my first post about “official” public art! The 28th/31st Ave connector is more than just a road and a bridge. It helps to correct a legacy of segregation – the physical separation of historically African-American North Nashville from the wealthy and historically white West End. The bridge itself is labeled as the Francis S. Guess Connector, in honor of a major Nashville civic and civil rights leader. Artist David Dahlquist, who Metro contracted to do the artwork for the bridge and two nearby bus shelters, chose a needle and thread theme to represent the binding together of these long divided communities. And trust me, getting from the TSU/Fisk area over to West End was something of a pain before this road was built. The bridge literally goes over the tracks that once divided North from West (and note that much of North Nashville is pretty close to due west from downtown – actual directions and place names don’t always correspond in Nashville). Above are some of the panels along the bridge, while below is one of the two bus shelters at the south end of the bridge. At the bottom, you can see an example of the thread motif that runs all along the bridge.
Metro also commissioned music for the bridge, and Christopher Farrell of the Nashville Symphony and Alias Chamber Ensemble followed the theme with “Needle and Thread.”
Located, where else, along the 28th/31st Ave connector.
