The Metro Nashville Arts Commission has selected Alex Braden to design, fabricate, and install an immersive public artwork in North Nashville (Council District 21) under the I-65/Arthur Avenue Underpass.
Alex Braden is a multidisciplinary artist who uses an array of new media— light, sound, sculpture, and installation— to create unexpected and unique spaces and situations. With his work, Braden wonders if by recovering our physical senses— returning to our bodies— we might reconnect to our own and, perhaps, to each other's humanity. Alex’s work has been featured in Hyperallergic, the Washington Post, SPIN, Noisey, and NPR.
Be As Water, Braden’s proposed public art installation, begins to address the harm experienced by the North Nashville community after the construction of the interstate bisected the thriving neighborhood. To meet residents’ request for better lighting, this installation incorporates layers of state-of-the-art LED lighting to illuminate the underpass. Braden's proposed concept also includes custom benches and murals.
The multi-modal installation will be completed in 2025 and will become part of the Metro Public Art Collection. The design will be refined over the next few months with input from the community and guidance from Metro Arts, Nashville Department of Transportation, and Tennessee Department of Transportation. This project, along with other projects in progress, will bring Metro Arts' award-winning Public Art Collection to over 250 artworks by end of 2025.
"I am so very humbled and honored that the residents of this remarkable neighborhood have entrusted me with transforming this long–neglected site into a creatively lit, multi–sensory, and artistically immersive space of reflection, celebration, and hope. This project exists because of a years-long labor of love by M. Simone Boyd and a generations-long labor of endurance by the elders and their families. I'm committed to moving forward with the openness, curiosity, and reverence that this artwork and this community deserve,” Braden said of the project.
"With Be As Water, I hope to pay respect to this community, specifically to the elders and lifelong residents,” Braden continued. “The builders of the interstate laid siege to this community, tried to cut it off, to isolate it, to dry it up. But in a feat of creativity, adaptation, and resilience, those north and west of the Arthur Avenue underpass refused to be dammed. What was intended as a moat has been transformed into a river. And that’s worth celebrating."
Residents and community members are invited to a community engagement event to hear directly from Braden and preview the proposed design on Saturday, July 13 from 10:30a.m.-11:30a.m. at Morgan Park.
This $500,000 public art lighting project is a project of Metro Arts, with $400,000 from Percent for Art fund and $100,000 from the Nashville Department of Transportation. The catalyst for this project was a $75,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Our Town grant, a collaboration between Nashville artist and activist M. Simone Boyd, Project Return, Nashville Department of Transportation, and Metro Arts.
“We’re so grateful to the community and the many partners who came together to make this project a reality. From area resident Simone Boyd to Project Return, the Metro Arts Commission, our partners at TDOT and more, this has truly been a group effort that shows how fun and creative transportation projects can be. I’m excited to use this as a model for future multimodal projects across Nashville,” said NDOT Director Diana Alarcon.
The National Endowment for the Arts supports projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and social outcomes; ultimately laying the groundwork for sustainable systems change.
You can follow the community engagement and design process on Metro Arts’ social media channels and Metro Arts email newsletter.
About Metro Arts: Nashville Office of Arts + Culture
Our mission is to drive a vibrant and equitable community through the arts. Metro Arts strives to ensure that all Nashvillians have access to a creative life, and we work toward this goal through community investments, artist and organizational training, public art, and direct programs involving residents in all forms of arts and culture. More information about Metro Nashville’s public art collection is available at Public Art Collection. Read Metro Arts’ cultural equity statement at Arts Equity Statement.