Kurt Eagleman works on the details of Grandma Barnes’ face.
The walls of another building in downtown Nashville are receiving some color in the form of a mural — this time depicting local history and heritage. The content of the piece is fitting for the location, as it stretches along the side of the Heritage Mall off Van Buren Street.
The building, like many others in town, is celebrated for its unique history. This new mural, again being completed by local artist Kurt Eagleman, adds another layer to that history.
Eagleman said last week that the piece captures a handful of figures and scenes that local residents will recognize. A portrait of Grandma Barnes is featured toward the Van Buren side of the wall, which was originally a photograph taken by Frank Hohenberger after Barnes won the title of “Spring Blossom Queen” during the town’s very first Spring Blossom Parade.
According to Eagleman, the organizers of the parade wanted a “young beauty” as the Spring Blossom Queen, but the artist stood up for Grandma Barnes instead, as she was an important figure in the town.
“She has a quote that says she loved when the painters came to paint her garden, because it felt like she was sharing her garden with the world through their paintings, so we’re going to put that down there,” Eagleman said.
Other features included in the mural are the Liar’s Bench with a view of the town of Nashville in the distance, a cabin on a hill and Gustave Baumann working at his easel. Eagleman explained that Baumann’s likeness was also originally captured in a Hohenberger photo, but for the mural, the image is inverted to make it look like Baumann is painting the other figures of the mural before him.
Like those that came before, this mural is sponsored by the state. It was paid for by the Public Art Activation Grant, awarded by the Indiana Destination Development Corporation (IDDC).
The grant seeks to create Indiana-specific public artwork throughout the state of Indiana.
Public artwork created in partnership with artists features the new IDDC tourism campaign, “IN Indiana.” It is a non-matching grant of up to $5,000 to fund public art projects.
So far, more than 40 public arts projects have been completed by local organizations in 33 counties across the state, all funded by the IDDC, according to their website.
