The Turtle at The Woodbury Intersection

By Suzanne Lynch, Director of Marketing and Development –

The Arts Center of Cannon County received an FY2017 Creative Placemaking award for a public art project to be installed in a previously barren block at the intersection of Doolittle Road and Water Street in Woodbury.

The sculpture is a large, friendly turtle whose friends—a mouse and a frog sit upon his back with their instruments. The sculptor is Bret MacFadyen, who many know as the coordinator of Nashville’s Tomato Art Fest. MacFadyen worked with reclaimed steel to create the characters, who were designed to complement the environment and the town’s recent arts development. The sculpture has now been the catalyst for the development of a park that will connect the sculpture to the river bank, complete with landscaping and footpaths.

The turtle and friends are yet unnamed, but there are plans to engage the community in selecting names for each of the characters. The Arts Center will announce a call for suggestions through the newspaper, social media and the local schools.

In Creative Placemaking, partners from public, private, nonprofit and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of their neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts and cultural activities or assets. The Commission’s Creative Placemaking grant competition is designed to help build stronger communities through the arts to enhance the distinctive character of local Tennessee places for positive economic and community outcomes. The Tennessee Arts Commission awards up to $10,000 to winning applications that involve partnerships of two or more towns, cities and/or counties. FY18 Creative Placemaking awards will be announced in June 2017.

More information on the Commission’s Creative Placemaking grant competition