Catfish Capital of the World Public Art in Savannah, TN

By Grace Robinson, Public Information and Research Coordinator –

Have you heard of the Catfish Capital of the World? Head on over to Savannah, TN and you’ll soon find a larger than life steel catfish sculpture proclaiming it so.

The public art project began as creative brainstorm by city leaders to tell the cultural story of Savannah, long known as the Catfish Capital of the World. The idea reeled in funding through a fiscal year 2016 Project Support Grant from the TN Arts Commission to the City of Savannah. Led by Assistant City Manager Seth Sumner, the city has been planning and developing the sculpture in partnership with local artists, high school students and the Tennessee College of Applied Sciences in Crump (TCAT-Crump) over the last year. They hope to reveal the public artwork as soon as July—location TBD.

Under the guidance of welding teacher, James Overstreet, students were able to work on the design of the sculpture digitally, as well as its construction by welding. First, they sketched diagrams and then created scale models using the school’s 3-D printer. Being stainless steel, the sculpture will be reflective—challenging the students to specify correct lighting angles to best display the catfish sculpture at night. This was done through computer graphics. In the TCAT-Crump welding department, the metalwork for the sculpture began with the construction of a prototype from which the final piece will be developed.

“I was so excited to see high school and vocational students involved in creating this piece of public art,” says long-time Savannah resident and TN Arts Commission Board member Lee Yeiser, “They had the opportunity to see and understand first hand the process of using their talents can be a way to make a living.”

The final sculpture will represent Savannah’s culture, historically and as seen in present day. The monumental steel catfish will be sitting on top of a globe, which will hold cannon balls and a fiddle, representing the city’s involvement in the Civil War as well as its musical heritage. The globe will then be draped in a banner reading, “Catfish Capital of the World.”

“The City of Savannah is excited to see this project taking shape, and in turn, creating a story all its own,” says Sumner, “this project has brought local artists and students together to dream, design and sculpt through metalworking, a giant catfish to serve as the story teller for our cultural history. It will no doubt serve citizens and visitors alike when displayed as a piece of public art—crafting a sense of place in a fun, beautiful space.”