Free Art in Nashville

While our trip to Nashville was interrupted by Hurricane Helene passing through (we just got heavy rains), we were still able to get some walking and outside time in. On our first day, we did our one and only mural tour, because it was the only day it was nice enough to do it when we had the time.

Luckily, there was plenty of art everywhere we went, so we saw it walking around and driving down the street. It always pays off to look up at buildings and down alleyways, because you are usually rewarded with some lovely things. 

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We headed to the 12South neighborhood and walked around with the help of a guide I found online that gave us some of the best murals to check out. This area of town was a bit upscale, had a lot of great shops, a farmers' market, and a variety of art on buildings. I'd love to go back and explore the neighborhood some more. 

If you are looking for an interesting place to eat, both The Nashville Farmers' Market and Assembly Food Hall have international food vendors and both have art in and outside. 

There are several cases of guitars from the Gibson Garage at baggage claim.

Street murals are not the only way to indulge in free art, though. In fact, right when you get off the plane at BNA, there is art in the airport, but once you leave, you can also hit up The Gulch neighborhood, the downtown area, or even the Tennessee State Museum for free art of all kinds.

The Tennessee State Museum has a "time tunnel", telling you all about how the state was formed, the indigenous people, the land itself, and then the history of the state through the Civil War, WWI and WWII, Women's Suffrage, the Civil Rights movement, and later, all through exhibits and artifacts. 

You then have two rotating exhibits. Right now, it's Tennessee Furniture and Tennessee Playlist (a quick history of Tennessee's music). We had some free time on our last day and decided to go back to see these two exhibits and eat at the Nashville Farmers' Market before we had to get to the airport.

You can easily spend an afternoon here, especially if it's a cold or rainy day. There's quite a lot to see. 

Right off Broadway, is the Ryman Theater. You can take a tour of the inside and learn about the musicians who got their start there and others that performed there throughout their careers, but if you're trying to save money, you can walk around the outside and learn some bite-size Nashville history while also enjoying statues of some Nashville icons. In fact, I think you should do this even if you take the tour. 

Even dogs have art in Nashville. We walked past this amazing little dog park that had this huge mural and was super clean. Not only that, but there were some fun training items in there as well, so you could teach your dog some agility while they're getting some socialization in.

By now, you know that most cities have free art if you are willing to look for it. I'd love to take a guided walking tour if/when we make it back to Nashville, so I can, hopefully, learn more about the street artists in the city.

What are some of your favorite places for free art?

The National Museum of African American Music

Though it's a mouthful, this museum might be one of my favorites that I've ever visited. When going to Nashville, people are going to recommend tours of The Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman Auditorium, and probably the Johnny Cash or Patsy Cline Museum (or both).

As someone who doesn't enjoy country music, for the most part, I was only mildly interested in the Johnny Cash Museum and even the Music Hall of Fame. The price tags for both seemed higher than I was willing to pay - $25+ per person, so I decided to visit a different, one-of-a-kind museum, showcasing African American music.

Part of my reasoning was that Black people created what we know as soul, bluegrass, and country, so if be getting a much more authentic experience than that at just ONE of the other music museums. I wasn't prepared for just how amazing this museum was though.

First of all, the NMAAM is on Broadway, or The Honky Tonk Highway. It's literally like Bourbon Street, but every bar has live, and loud, country music that, literally, everyone knows. You'll find honky tonks owned by Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Jon Bon Jovi, Dierks Bentley, and more, with drunk people spilling out onto the street. That's absolutely not our vibe, but it's something to experience at least once, even if you don't go inside any of them to have overpriced mediocre food and drinks. I highly suggest Assembly Food Hall instead, or going somewhere else entirely.

This museum takes you from the roots of music during slavery, all the way to modern day hip hop and rap. You'll see and learn about the most influential people in music history and then those that came before and influenced them. Did I know about Koko Taylor before I visited? No, I did not, but now I do and know she was awesome.

Throughout the museum are music stations where you can create your own songs, beats, or listen to Black artists through history, see who their contemporaries were, who were their inspirations, and who were inspired by them. You can save all these playlists and interactions by purchasing a $5 wristband that gives you access to most of these interactive elements, including doing a rap battle with a friend and dancing to music through the decades.

Do you want to see outfits from influential musicians like Tina Turner, LL Cool J, and Whitney Houston? Or instruments from people like Louis Armstrong? An actual Grammy belonging to Ella Fitzgerald? Or see a truly wild quote from Jimi Hendrix? This museum has all that and more.

Learn who Elvis watched and listened to for some of his best songs, like Hound Dog, and moves. I know many people say he stole everything from the Black community, but he was always forthcoming about his inspirations and giving credit for the community who allowed him to thrive in the industry.

We probably spent a good 3 hours here and could have spent longer. It's not all feel good music, but it's interesting and beautiful and fun. If you love music, you should check it out. If you love history, you should check it out. If you love fashion, you should check it out. If you want to know more about production, you should check it out.

Helpful tips:

There is a parking garage under the block that houses Hattie B's, Tecovas, a bunch of other shops and restaurants, and the NMAAM, with an entrance on Broadway. It's expensive, but you can save $20 off the whole day by using the kiosk inside the museum (even if you aren't visiting the museum, but you should).

Go first thing when they open, so you don't have to fight to get to exhibits and interactive elements. Then, go eat, see more of what Nashville has to offer, and then go check out your playlist when it downloads (it might be the next day to be there in its entirety) and relive some of your favorite moments and artists.

Don't forget to watch the short movie at the beginning or your tour, check out the art gallery in the lobby, and visit the gift shop to see some other things not in the museum proper.

Have you been to a specialty museum or one that showcases a certain people? Tell us where it was and what you loved about it.

Walk Among the Stars at Astra Lumina

A few weeks ago, I learned about a nighttime walking light tour called Astra Lumina that was going to be coming to Seattle, because nothing seems to come to Portland, even though we have spaces for them. I was going to purchase tickets for next month, but then decided to look at the other cities it was going to.

It seemed like kismet that the event was currently on display in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, just a 10 minute drive from where we're staying outside of Pigeon Forge to visit Dollywood, so I booked a pair of tickets and admission to the adventure park hosting it, which I can't review, because we dawdled too much driving from Nashville and showed up 30 minutes before the park closed, just in time to take the lift to the top of the mountain and show up for our Astra Lumina time slot. It was still more convenient and cheaper than a separate trip to Seattle.

So, what is Astra Lumina? It's an interactive, multi-sensory light installation that you walk through. It has 10 stops along the route, including a "photo booth" at the end, with different cosmic vignettes that all follow a story that consist of stars and space and planets. It takes about an hour to experience, even if you stay at stops longer than expected.

Each stop has a theme and you'll see a lighted sign before you get to them with the name of it and the time each experience lasts. The lights are all different and has music that goes along with them. Each musical accompaniment is soft and ethereal and different, but also very similar, but it's perfect and really brings you into the story.

The walk up to the entrance of Astra Lumina is lined with lanterns that have astronomy patterns and a piece of the prologue to the experience. The mood is perfectly set by the time you arrive, and then you enter a cosmic archway into the Astra Lumina space and witness falling stars, that then serenade you.

You walk through starlight, and I'm pretty sure this is everyone's favorite part, because it's like you're underwater, but also in space, and like a very gentle rave. You feel like you are walking through e most beautiful spiderwebs that never touch you. I loved it and we all just stood, staring around us in wonder, like we'd never seen light beams before. The way it's done is so magical and impossible to describe or capture on film, though I tried.

At one point, you are there to see a star being born, and ascend into the cosmos, and accepted by the other stars up there. There's a literal wave of light, the fallen stars return to the skies, and your are in a forest carpeted with dancing light. If you've been following me here and on IG, you know I enjoy light installations and interactive art and this one went beyond my expectations and imagination. I was emotional at times and completely in awe.

Everything is centered on where you are. There's just enough light on the trail for you to keep your footing and follow it to the next stop, almost like they don't want you to see anything outside of the path in between stops, and it is pretty impactful and mesmerizing.

It's not often I'm speechless, but this got me. You can spend as much or as little time as you like on the trail, so if you find you've entered in the middle of an experience, then make sure you wait around for it to start again to see an entire rotation. You'll know when it's over without timing it. It's very obvious.

Wear good walking shoes and dress warmly, if it's cooler out. Take a lot of pictures, or don't. It's okay to just enjoy the experience. The photo op at the end is unmanned, so be cool and offer to take photos (yes, more than one) for people ahead or behind you, so they can also have a great photo memory. 

Do you have a must-see light experience or interactive art exhibit to share?