Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Art Murals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee clears grant application for Bordeaux Library mural after officials confirm interior location
Summary
The committee approved RS2025-1390, authorizing an Arts Build Communities grant application for a mural at the Bordeaux Library branch. A substitute clarified the application is being made by the Nashville Public Library and library staff confirmed the mural will be located inside the children's area with community participation.
On Aug. 5 the Arts, Parks, Libraries, and Entertainment Committee approved a resolution authorizing an Arts Build Communities grant application for a mural at the Bordeaux Library branch. The committee approved RS2025-1390 after adopting a substitute that corrects the applicant to the Nashville Public Library.
The original text on the agenda described the grant application as coming from the Metropolitan government, acting by and through the Metropolitan Arts Commission, for a mural at Bordeaux Library. The substitute adopted by the committee "updates and corrects" the applicant to the Nashville Public Library, which library staff said is where the grant will be administered.
Council member Kimbrough raised concerns before the vote about community perception if the mural were placed on the exterior of the building, saying some residents view exterior murals as graffiti. "A lot of people just see that as graffiti, and they don't want it," Kimbrough said during the discussion. Kimbrough said a subsequent conversation with library staff had relieved those concerns.
Susan Dry (name appears in the transcript also as “Drey”), assistant director for administrative services for the Nashville Public Library, confirmed on the record that the mural will be "at the entrance inside the library to the children's area," and that children and community members will participate in designing the work. "We'll announce it. We'll advertise it. We want everybody," Dry said. She also said the library would share engagement and next-step information with Council member Kimbrough.
The committee adopted the substitute and then moved the resolution forward; members indicated approval by voice vote. No public commenters were signed up for the meeting, and committee members did not record additional conditions or require a deferral.
The Arts Build Communities grant is administered by the Tennessee Arts Commission; the adopted substitute shows the Nashville Public Library as the applying agency. The meeting discussion did not include the proposed mural’s artist, budget, timeline, or maintenance plan; those details were not specified during the committee’s consideration.
