Street art in Clarksville, from Sgt. Carter to Van Gogh

Clarksville recently unveiled its 21st public art piece, adding “Clarksville’s Starry Night,” the town’s skyline in the style of Vincent van Gogh, to the many murals, sculptures, fountains and flames that dot this corner of northern Tennessee. All are located close to the city’s downtown core and include city streets, urban trails, buildings and the campus of Austin Peay State University.

The current "Clarksville's Starry Night" mural by artist Olasubomi Aka-Bashorun fills a 60- by 40-foot space on the side of a building at 420 Madison Street.

The Day After

But let's check out the other pieces:

"The Day After," a bronze statue by Scott Wise at Commerce and South Second, depicts a seated man reading a January 23, 1999, edition of The Leaf-Chronicle, the day after an F-4 tornado destroyed much of downtown, including the courthouse and the Leaf Chronicle buildings. 

   

"The Clarksville Protector" by artists Roger and Neil Brodin is a bronze sculpture dedicated to all who serve in the Clarksville Police Department and is located at 135 Commerce St.

The First Federal Outdoor Garden at 200 S. Second St. includes various pieces in the courtyard entry at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, created by artists Olen Bryant, Tom Rice and Mike Andrews.

"Lenora ‘Nora’ Witzel and Nettie" by Andrea Lugar at the Millennium Plaza at Third Street is a life-sized bronze statue of local pioneer female photographer Lenora Witzel and her dog.

The Millennium Fountain by John Medwedeff, also in Millennium Plaza, is a 16-foot bronze fountain installed with the reconstruction of the area after the 1999 tornado.

Frank Sutton

Eighteen bronze children at 115 Strawberry Alley make up the Children’s Fountain.

Scott Wise created "Frank Sutton," a life-size bronze sculpture of the Clarksville native who portrayed “Sgt. Carter” on the CBS sitcom, “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” Unveiled in 2017, it's located at 107 Franklin St.

"Forged in the Fire" is steel warped in a fire of 1978, refined and painted by Montgomery Central High School students at Upland Trail at Spring Street, created with artist Mike Andrews.

Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire

"Bursting with Pride" by artist Ricky Deel is a 10,000 square-foot mural featuring 15 Clarksville buildings at 110 Franklin St.

John Montgomery was Clarksville’s first settler and his bronze recreation by Scott Wise is located at City Hall at Strawberry Alley.

"Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire" by Dr. Gregg Schlander is a 30-foot tall steel pillar dedicated to all military personnel in the Public Square at Main Street.

On the Austin Peay State University Campus (601 College St.), adjacent to downtown is the following:

"The Synthesis" polished marble statue by the Rev. Howard Brown at the Felix G. Woodward Library; 

"The Gateway" by Dr. Jim Diehr at the College Street Entry Gates, made up of concrete and steel;

"A Sentinel" by Olen Bryant at the Morgan University Center, a 10-foot bronze monolithic sculpture; and

"Gov. Austin Peay" by Scott Wise at the Morgan University Center, a life-size bust of the Tennessee Governor and college’s namesake.

The Gateway

Outside the Urban Core:

"Wilma Rudolph" by the Rev. Howard Brown, a life-size bronze statue of three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Wilma Rudolph at the

Wilma Rudolph Event Center at 1190 TN Hwy 48;

"Remembrance" by Scott Wise, a bronze sculpture commemorating Clarksville firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty, at

831 Franklin Street;

"Family" by Tom Rice, limestone pedestaled bird sculptures inside the foyer of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library at

350 Pageant Lane;

"Reverence" by Scott Wise, one-and-a-half life-sized sculpture dedicated to all veterans who served in the U.S. armed forces at 330 Pageant Lane (facing Madison Street); and

"Doughboy" by Ernest Viquesney, marble sculpture dedicated in 1929 to honor World War I veterans at 250 Arrowwood Lane (Brigadier General Wendell H. Gilbert Tennessee State Veterans' Home).

Individual stories about the pieces, most of which were written by students in an Austin Peay Urban Planning class, can be found on the Visit Clarksville website.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by travel and food writer Chere Dastugue Coen, who adores public art. She lives in Lafayette, Louisiana, a town of many murals. 

Flying Violins, ladybugs and Cajun culture in hubcaps: the Robert Dafford murals of Lafayette, Louisiana

Flying Violins

Robert Dafford is a legend in Lafayette, Louisiana, a muralist who has traveled the world creating hundreds of pieces of public art in magnificent ways. Walk around downtown Lafayette and you’ll see his paintings everywhere.

Take the “Flying Violins.” I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Dafford for a DeSoto magazine feature (on Southern murals, coming up in October) and learned how he came to paint this mural I have walked past for years. In 1988, before the spring’s annual Festival International de Louisiane, in which musicians from all over the Francophone world — including Louisiana — visit Lafayette for several days of fun, Dafford was asked to paint a side of a downtown building. He chose to paint violins emerging from a swamp scene.

Till All That's Left is a Postcard

“I conceived it as a symbol of Cajun music leaving the swamps and flying out into the world,” Dafford said.

The mural represents the universality of music, an art form that pushes past the barriers of politics, language, and business, Dafford explained.

Other “Flying Violins” murals have been painted in sisters cities in France, Canada, Belgium and England, and several more are planned.

Other Dafford murals in Lafayette include:

 

Till All That's Left is a Postcard

“Til All That’s Left is a Postcard” -  Corner of Jefferson Street and Garfield in downtown Lafayette.

Dafford’s vibrant mural includes birds, dragonflies and other creatures escaping the Atchafalaya Basin from the encroachment of development. He painted this mural in the 1980s when people talked of developing Louisiana’s massive river drainage swamp that’s home to numerous wildlife.

Ex-Garage

“Ex-Garage” – Corner of Jefferson Street and E. Vermilion in downtown Lafayette.

This mural on the side of Jefferson Towers reflects what used to be in this spot, a parking garage. Dafford pays homage to those old cars but paints local chefs, musicians and other “Cajun characters” into the bumpers and hubcaps.

“Stereo Prairie” – 201 E. Congress St. 
This mural decorates the side of the Children’s Museum of Acadiana and includes other artists Herb Roe, Sherrie Bennet and Chris Confor.

The most recent Dafford mural to Lafayette graces City Hall (705 W. University), which used to be a Sears Department building. Like most of Dafford’s murals, the series of paintings tells the story of Lafayette’s origins and the people who called Acadiana home, including French, Spanish, African and Native Americans.

“We have international roots,” Dafford explained, adding that today’s city attracts and honors international partners. “Lafayette has always been and will always be international in its intentions, aims and goals.”

Want to know more? Check out “The Public Art of Robert Dafford,” written by and illustrated by Philip Gould, published by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press.

Cheré Coen is a food and travel writer who loves public art that tells a story.