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Rivive

ReviveFullWall

No, I didn’t misspell “revive.” This Nashville Walls Project mural is by Beau Stanton and was done in collaboration with Rivive, a non-profit that looks to raise awareness about and improve river resources in the Nashville area. So talk to them about my spell checker going nuts! The water theme is clear, with a Greco-Roman woman pouring out water, along with fish and other water life. Blanton has some nice photos on his website (including a timelapse video) as does Nashville Walls Project (including photos of the production on the mural). It’s a hard mural to shoot, given its enormous size and the fact there is a building across the street. Certainly, it makes the downtown version of Blush easy to find!  (The writing on the far corner of the building is part of another mural I haven’t blogged about yet.)

Located at 144 5th Avenue North. This is downtown, so there is plenty of parking, none of it free.

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Public art, sort of

HobsonHouse

When is art “public”? If you can see it from a spot where it’s legal for the public to be, I’d say that’s public. But some cases stretch that definition. This mural is found on Hobson House, East Nashville’s oldest home (parts of it date to 1806), which is occasionally the scene of small concerts and record releases. The Andee Rudloff mural from 2016 is, in fact, visible from the alley behind Hobson House. There’s a private property sign right about where I took this picture from some months ago. I can’t recommend you stand in front of the mural and get your picture taken without permission of the property owners. Maybe just enjoy it here on my blog, or wait for a show and get the picture then.

Located at 814 Woodland street. As mentioned, it is visible from the alley behind Woodland, which can be accessed from 8th or 9th Avenue South. This is private property, marked as such, so be respectful.

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The present is a gift (Norf Wall gallery part 12)

Donahue

I have almost finished documenting the many murals at the old tire factory at 19th and Herman. (To learn about how these murals came to be, see Part 1.) One thing I’ve learned – avoid if at all possible multi-part posts! Most of what I have not documented in this series either appeared relatively recently (which I will deal with separately) or I have no idea who the artist is (which I’ll handle in one post wrapping up this series). I do of course know who did this one, as it signed by an artist who has already been on this blog before a few times, Tennesse State University art professor Brandon Donahue.  I should note that since these murals first went up, a lot of materials have been stacked up in the yard where many of them are found, so it can be difficult to see them. The picture here is imperfect, because a car blocked the original shot, but getting a better photo would be near impossible today. It’s still a sight worth visiting, but don’t expect all the murals to be fully visible. See the pin for Part 1 on the map.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 13

Located at the north end of the 800 block of 19th Street N., at the corner of Herman Street. It’s impossible to miss. Street parking is very haphazard. There is a lot to see here, and also a lot of overgrown weeds (depending on the time of year) so wear the right shoes!

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Maybe you’ve seen this one?

SiloMain.jpg

I’ve often said I’m a blogger, not a journalist. Still, this is a pretty prominent mural, and it was finished almost a year ago. One issue has been photographing it. You would think something this big and visible would be easy to shoot, but given the industrial area it’s in, getting a good angle isn’t easy. And of course, that’s not whole mural – the rest is below. Sponsored in part by the Nashville Walls Project, the mural is the work of Australian artist Guido van Helten. (That website hasn’t been updated in a while. You can find his more recent work on his Facebook page.) Van Helten makes a specialty of giant portraits of people local to the community he is painting in. The gentleman featured here is Lee “LD” Estes, a 92-year-old lifetime resident of The Nations, the West Nashville neighborhood where this mural is found. The mural represents both the gentrification of The Nations and, in Estes, the longer traditions and history of The Nations. This article discusses that and has some good pictures as well. The silo itself is almost all that’s left of what was once Gillette Grain Co. Now its part of Silo Bend, a 38 acre development project of Southeast Venture that includes both housing and retail. Southeast Venture planned on keeping the silo from the beginning, and commissioned the mural, and now the silo and the mural feature prominently in the development’s branding. You can watch a series of day by day videos documenting its creation, and there’s also a time-lapse video for the whole project.

SiloKids

Located near the intersection of Centennial Boulevard and 51st Avenue North. The portrait of Estes can be best viewed from the parking lot of the shopping complex that includes a branch of White Bison Coffee, located at 5202 Centennial. Getting a clear view of the two children is tricker, and might be considered trespassing, though it’s not marked as such. Go north on 54th Avenue from Centennial, and cross the railroad track, turning right immediately. This is a construction staging area at the moment. The gravel road paralleling the railroad goes right up to the silo. No one stopped me when I did this. Hopefully, once all the construction is finished, proper public access will be available.

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Off the wall (Part 6)

Quilt

The Off The Wall project on Charlotte, which had been going slowly, has taken off like gangbusters in recent weeks. One mural is left to be finished, and the space will be completely filled with art. This mural, called “The Nashville Quilt,” is not one of the new ones, but has been up for a few months. (I’m an historian, not a journalist!) While the background is by Jake and Hana Elliott of What. Creative Group, the various “patches” are by artists from non-profits that partnered with What.Creative. Lily Clayton Hansen did profiles of each artist for Word of Mouth, with photography by Elizabeth Ratliff. I encourage you to check them out. For one, this post would be impossibly long if I tried to write up each artist, and Hansen and Ratliff have already done a superior job.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Located at 3020 Charlotte Avenue. This mural actually faces 28th Avenue North. Your best bet for parking is perhaps across the street at Cross Fit Nashville or street parking on 31st Avenue north of Charlotte.

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Hidden cow

PueblitoPatrillos.jpg

Once there was a cow on the side of a supermarket. But an addition was built, which hid the cow, at least in part. But then a new cow appeared, and there was rejoicing in the land. Ok, maybe not. But it’s obvious from the picture above that there is a partially hidden mural at El Pueblito Super Mercado, which for better or worse was left in place when a storage shed was built in front of it. The shed advertises Los Potrillos Caniceria, which presumably provides meat for El Pueblito. To the best of my knowledge, “potrillo” means “colt,” but I doubt they are serving horsemeat. The Potrillos mural is signed by José F. Vargas, he of many other Latino grocery murals.  The half-hidden mural seems to be his style as well. There is a display of meats and fruits on the front that is probably also by Vargas, but it isn’t signed.

Located at 948 Richards Rd, at the corner with Antioch Pike. The market has lots of parking. Fill up your grocery bags and enjoy the art!

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Eastland graffiti

EastlandDuff

It is becoming more and more evident that Nashville business owners understand the importance of art as part of their self-presentation. The Eastland is yet another of the many upscale apartment and condo buildings that have been sprouting like weeds in the current Nashville real estate market. It’s all crisp modern lines, muted whites and greys, but then you turn into the little tunnel that links the parking lot to the road and you encounter this vivid splash of color, courtesy of Troy Duff. There are the obvious neighborhood nods, like “615” and “37206.” It’s also a sign. Look closely under the arrow, and you’ll see “The Eastland.” It isn’t signed, but following a hunch that it was his work, I found it on Duff’s Instagram page. That post is dated August 27, 2017, making the piece about a year old.

Located at 1035 West Eastland. There is parking at the apartment building and some limited street parking, as well as an adjacent parking garage.

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