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Nashville Looks Good on You – Marathon Village

NLGOY Mural Nashville Street art

I’ve written about the one on Nolensville Pike and the one in 12 South. I’ve also written about the one on 21st Avenue South. And now we have the one in Marathon Village. All four are by the same artist, who signs his work NASHTN.

This version is fairly new, having gone up a little over a month ago. In the selfie wars of Nashville, the one in 12 South is definitely one of the most popular murals in town. There’s usually a line to get your picture taken there. This one may not get as much attention as the 12 South version, but it will also see more visitors than the one on Nolensville Pike, which is far from where most tourists go (thankfully so – at least we locals have all the great immigrant restaurants on Nolensville mostly to ourselves).

Marathon Village is not as overrun with tourists as 12 South or Lower Broad, it certainly gets it share, and no doubt many will find this new one. It’s on the other side of a parking lot from the main part of Marathon Village, but through tax records I was able to confirm this building belongs to Barry Walker, the developer of Marathon Village. (That link is an interesting history of Marathon Village and Walker’s work to restore it.)

Each NLGOY mural is distinctive. The 12 South one is a simple black-and-white block, the Nolensville one is huge and morphs into a map of Tennessee, and the one on 21st is curved. This one is unique in its complexity. I think it’s interesting that the magnifying glass seems to be shining a light on the mural. The hand has been painted in a way that largely makes the electrical box disappear. The whole effect is like some giant that’s got an arm sticking out of the building while carefully examining anyone who gets their picture made in front of the mural.

On the artist’s IG page, you can see a series of images showing the making of the mural.

The building has a sign for 360 Skin Care, but its not clear if the business is active.

Located at 1206 Milson Avenue. The mural is on the west side of the building, facing away from downtown. The building lies directly across the parking lot from the tower on the main Marathon Village building. There’s plenty of parking around, but you may need to park a bit away to find something free.

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Spread Love

Spead Love Mural Nashville street art

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a Music City Murals work found a little hidden away at the Capitol View project in a post I called Riding!. This is another of their works, just around the corner and much more visible. Unlike the “Riding!” mural, this one is signed, not just by Music City Murals, but also specifically by one of their artists, Anthony Billups. I had seen this mural on social media a few times in the last few months (it was put up back in January), but perhaps because Capitol View is not completely rented out and Google still hasn’t fully incorporated this massive project into its maps, folks were a little vague as to where to find it. If you think of the downtown Publix on Charlotte as the “front” of the building in question, this is on the “back,” on Nelson Merry Street, next to the entrance of the Residences at Capitol View.

The hands incorporate several Nashville icons, such as the State Capitol, the Batman Building, Nissan Stadium, and the Sheraton Hotel with its distinctive round top. The imagery certainly lends itself to the message of “Spread Love,” as the mural is titled. Billups himself used it in a heartfelt post about Nashville’s resiliency in the face of the March 3 tornadoes. When I went to photograph it, I had to wait for a couple who seemed to be clearly taking engagement photos in front of it (Mazel tov!). No doubt it will be the backdrop for many similar photos.

Spread Love Hands mural Nashville street art

Located at 1015 Nelson Merry Street. You can access free parking (meant for the businesses in the building) off the alley on the east side of the building, towards the State Capitol. Some street parking is available.

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The Tool of Tools

I’ve been watching this mural since sometime in June, but wasn’t sure if it was finished. Well it wasn’t, but a signature recently appeared, so I believe it’s finished now. It’s by Thomas Halloran, and he calls it “The Tool of Tools.” Halloran is a Boston artist who now resides in Berlin, so this mural is a sign of the extending reach of Nashville’s outdoor art scene. While it’s located on the side of the Nashville branch of Status Dough, it’s an obvious reference to the artist spaces and galleries in the complex at 919 Gallatin Avenue, which it faces. 919 Gallatin includes Delgado Guitars, The Red Arrow Gallery, Tournament Studios, and others, and is a major part of the East Side Art Stumble, East Nashville’s art crawl. Thus Halloran’s theme of the tools of creation and the hands that wield them makes good sense here.

Halloran also created a sign on the Gallatin-facing side of the 919 complex, and is working on a second “hands” mural on another 919 building. I’ll feature both later. There’s also a no-littering mural semi-hidden by 919’s dumpster – I’m researching who did it.

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Located at 921 Gallatin Avenue (that’s the address of Status Dough). It faces south towards 919’s parking lot, where parking is of course available.

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Hold Fast (An Off The Wall project)

Hold Fast mural Nashville street art

One of the projects that inspired this blog was the Off the Wall project on Charlotte organized by Tinsley Dempsey. Fourteen murals along the wall protecting  Abbot West Storage from Charlotte and wrapping around as the wall turned and ran down 28th Avenue North led to a lot of blog posts. (The first one is here, and has links to all the others.) The first of those murals went up in 2016, and the last one a little over a year ago in April, 2019. Now there is a postscript. This new mural is on one of Abbot’s storage buildings, facing 31st Avenue North, just off Charlotte. It’s the product of Tarabella Aversa (who in the past has gone by Tara Marie Aversa) and went up in late April of this year, with the sponsorship of Dempsey. Its flower motif is familiar from Aversa’s other work, such as the mural featured in Flowers of Walden.  Its message of strength resonated in the aftermath of the March 3 tornadoes, which did so much damage to Nashville and nearby communities. But a lot has happened since then. Aversa has since linked it to the cause of justice embodied in the protests that arose in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. The mural’s mix of delicate beauty and fierce strength with a message of perseverance will no doubt be relevant for many causes to come.

Located at 3020 Charlotte Avenue. This mural actually faces 31st Avenue North and is easily visible from Charlotte. Your best bet for parking is perhaps across Charlotte at Cross Fit Nashville, and there is street parking on Felicia Street one block north of the mural.

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Come together, again

Come Together mural street art Nashville

More than a year ago, I wrote about a then brand new mural by Brian Wooden on Gallatin, and mentioned that it had a twin that I wrote “will probably be on this blog someday.” Well, that someday is today. As with the “Come Together” mural on Gallatin, this one is part of a national campaign against gun violence called “End Gun Violence Together” sponsored by Blake Mycoskie and the company he founded, the shoe and apparel company TOMS. The Gallatin version is on a black wall, and it’s mostly white and grey and for contrast. Here Wooden has opted for a blue version, to make it pop out of the white wall better. There are many more murals based on this design around the country, and you can find many examples on the Instagram page of Tyler Ramsey, an artist who is helping TOMS promote the mural campaign. None of the sites associated with the campaign seem to have information about who created the original design.

Come Together Nashville Mural street art

Located at 123 12th Avenue North. The mural faces an alley at the back of the building,  coming off of Grundy Street. If you are at the entrance to Chauhan Ale and Masala House, walk towards the interstate. The large gravel parking lot nearby is usually reserved for valet parking. There’s street parking on 12th after 6 pm and under the bridge to the north all day. Street parking is also available on Grundy.

 

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Hands of charity

Hands mural street art Nashville

For decades, there’s been a homeless encampment hidden under the Spring Street bridge near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Main Street. The city knocks it down from time to time, but it always gets rebuilt. And for over 35 years, a church nearby, Holy Name Catholic Church, housed in the building that hosts this mural, has provided meals for the homeless, both from the camp and elsewhere. The Loaves and Fishes program was founded by Father Charles Strobel, who first opened the doors of the church to the homeless in the winter of ’85-’86 when, after a recent round of the city tearing down the camp, some of its residents camped out in the church’s parking lot. This ultimately led to both the founding of Loaves and Fishes and also Room in the Inn, in which a number of Nashville churches cooperate to provide shelter and other services to the homeless. Recently, the parish center building that houses Loaves and Fishes was renamed in Father Strobel’s honor. Strobel, who retired some years ago, also recently received the Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award, one of Nashville’s most prestigious awards. (Seriously, check out the list of honorees on that page.) This mural, by the artist who signs his work “Little Stone,” shows open, giving hands in front of a basket weave, evoking a basket that might hold food, a perfect symbol of the church’s charitable work.

Located at 521 Woodland Street. That’s actually the address of the main church building. The Strobel Building (which is not yet labeled as such) is at the back of a neighboring parking lot. The mural itself faces Main Street, across from the Stacks on Main complex. You can often park in the church parking lot at Sixth and Main, though probably not during mass. There is street parking available on Sixth Street.

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