Out of the Gallery: the public art trend in Murfreesboro

By Zoë Haggard 

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Among piles of rusty tools, antique toys, and old drum sets, David Adkins works in the warmth and musk of his garage. He sits near a window and straddles his great-grandfather’s century-old anvil, one of its sides chipped from decades of use.

 

The sharp percussion breaks through the brittle November air.

 

Ti-tink, ti-tink, ti-tink.  

 

He beats the long, wiry copper with a hammer, willing it to curve. Adkins is forming a new creation; he is turning wire into trees. And the idea all started with a paperclip.

 

Adkins used to work in educational testing, grading the written portion of students’ tests. Bored at the long monotonous training sessions, he began twisting paperclips together after a co-worker asked if he could make one paperclip lean against another. And he did.
 

Little did he know that small challenge would turn into a hobby and eventually a career.

  

“That was 20 years ago. And I’ve been twisting wire ever since,” Adkins said as he sat at a slightly out-of-tune Driscoll Brothers piano in his living room.

 

Today, he is one of the over 130 listed local artists in Rutherford County, according to the Murfreesboro Arts and Culture website. And with this surge of newfound artistry entering Rutherford County, a new trend in public art emerges to make art available to everyone and artists like David Adkins known.

 

It was the emerging art scene in Nashville that appealed to Adkins when he moved here from West Virginia, following his now-wife, Lana. He studied recording industry at Middle Tennessee State University and graduated in 1996.

 

He did many odd jobs throughout Nashville and Murfreesboro to support his music. Now in addition to playing drums and recording music, Adkins continues to make his wire trees and sell them around the world.

 

“I’ve got a tiny forest around the world,” he said with a chuckle.

 

And the trees have come to represent more than just pleasing art.

 

“It bridges a lot of different cultures and religions. Cultures around the world say this is a symbol…the tree of life—we’re all connected. That’s a message I can live with,” he said.

 

It’s a message that the Rutherford County Arts Alliance pushes in their community.

 

The Arts Alliance held their monthly meeting Tuesday, Nov. 12. There they talked about future art events and emphasized their tagline of “connecting creatives with community.”  One of their first steps is through visual public art.

 

“Public art is art of the public,” said Andrea J. Loughry who is a member of the Arts Alliance. She helped to curate the new mural designed by Norris Hall on Vine Street back in October.

 

“These are the iconic buildings in our cityscape made into a whimsical form,” she said.

 

It’s a whimsical form that the Arts Alliance says will attract people of all ages and backgrounds.

 

“Our population is diverse, and we want to serve our population,” said Ginny Togrye, the chair of the Rutherford County Arts Alliance.

 

Originally from Louisville, KY, Togrye also graduated from MTSU. She was awarded Painting Laureate by the Arts and Culture of Murfreesboro and from there went on to help form the Arts Alliance. And their first goal was public art, according to Togrye.

 

Togrye is also an artist. In her studio, fully- and half-finished acrylic paintings line the walls and small clay statues with fine detail peak in between the paintings.

 

“I think with the visual arts, people are seeing the impact of it quicker, so that’s the reason we started with visual and the murals…” she said.

 

Togrye explained public art appeals and services a wide variety of people. Such service can especially be seen at the alliance’s newest project at Gateway Island where public art, like meditation gardens and murals, will be made inclusive, accessible, and free to patients, doctors, and other workers near the hospital there.       

 

“That’s why I love the idea of public art,” she said.

 

But the public art trend goes beyond providing something pretty for the citizens. It’s revenue, too.

 

An Americans for the Arts study showed Rutherford County arts produce 31.2 million dollars annually in economic activity. The goal then became to draw in revenue from the outside as well. 

 

“If we want to attract tourism—we’re not just a sports town; we’re not just a college town; we’re not just a Civil War history town. There’s another facet to our town and brings in money,” said Togrye.

 

That is, the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau wants to show that Rutherford County and especially Murfreesboro can offer diverse attraction to many different people. 

 

They also want to attract professionals who want that small-town feel but also that cultural vibrancy.

 

The biggest way to attract those people and their economic contribution is to start with public art, according to Togrye.  

 

Even though the Arts Alliance does not pay for the murals, they have begun to draw attention by helping people and businesses secure funding for murals and other public art. 

 

“We have a list of business owners who have contacted the alliance and have said they want murals…we just want to facilitate the first ones happening and hopefully make a snowball effect,” she said.

 

It’s a plan that allows for Adkins and his trees to maybe one day be public art.

 

“The tree of life holds a lot of meaning for people…I would like to see something like that represented in public art…” said Adkins. He explained a grassroots project for the new roundabout on Lytle Street where he could put one of his wire sculptures—in much larger proportions, of course.

   

But for now, Adkins said he would enjoy seeing public art that is pleasing to the eye and something the community can be proud of continue to grow in Murfreesboro. 

 

 

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