Nashville’s Public Art Program Reflects the Community’s Character and Rich History
alice aycock, art, character, community, culture, cumberland river, east bank machineworks, ghost ballet, metro nashville arts commission program, public art program,
This is a ghost story that’s not a bit scary.
In July 2007‚ New York City artist Alice Aycock completed work on her contemporary sculpture‚ Ghost Ballet for the East Bank Machineworks‚ which graces the east bank of the Cumberland River between LP Field and the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge.
The $250‚000 sculpture is the first of what art enthusiasts hope will be many public art projects funded by a program of the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission.
In 2000‚ then-Mayor Bill Purcell introduced‚ and the Metro Council approved‚ a public-art funding mechanism “to integrate art into the community so that all of our residents and visitors can enjoy what it adds to our urban fabric‚” explains Sandra Duncan‚ director of the commission’s Public Art Program.
The strategy sets aside 1 percent of the established budget for public art when the city builds a new building; major renovations are also included.
Norree Boyd‚ the commission’s executive director‚ credits the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual InterCity Visits‚ when city leaders get a firsthand look at other communities‚ with prompting Nashville’s public-art initiative.
“They went to cities that were already on the map for their public art pro grams‚” Boyd says. “While they were on those visits‚ they said‚ ‘Nashville deserves this. How do we do it?’ ”
Commission research resulted in the 1 percent legislation and then establishment of a citizen-based Public Art Committee with a charge to select potential sites and then artists. The location along the East Bank Greenway was “overwhelmingly” chosen as the first locale‚ Boyd adds.
“Public art is site-specific‚ and when we sent out the first call to artists‚ it was actually a request for qualifications to determine artists who would be interested in coming to Nashville and developing a site-specific piece of art‚” Boyd explains.
The national call resulted in more than 150 responses‚ and the committee narrowed the field to six. Aycock’s Ghost Ballet won out for reflecting the city’s heritage‚ particularly industries that dominated the river since the mid-1800s‚ and for capturing Nashville’s energy today.
The artwork – 100 feet tall‚ 100 feet wide and 60 feet deep – sits on the remnant of a gantry crane once used by the Nashville Bridge Co. to build and launch bridges.
Aycock calls the work “static anima tion‚” meaning that although the piece doesn’t move‚ its lines and structure evoke movement. She says the piece “capture[s] the athleticism of a per former and the confidence of a city that is comfortable with its identity as the home of American music and one of this country’s true emerging cities.”
Boyd says Ghost Ballet and future public art “put us on the map as being one of those wonderful cities in the country that has embraced public art to give it a distinction‚ to give it a personality‚ to actually join in with those art-friendly cities. This puts us another rung higher.”
The next public art site probably will be the new Courthouse Public Square downtown.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
