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Welcome! Update: August 08, 2007 Celebrate Nashville off Jefferson Street , June 23, 2007 was filled with the gutsy, rhapsodic melodies of jazz and blues by some of the men and women that are music legends and still living and working in Nashville. The desire to reach back and enjoy great times in history was a part of the motivation for the event planned by Arts Alive.  Renee Somers local artist and an art teacher in Nashville for the past ten years painted eleven portraits of Nashville’s memorable music legends in an 8 foot by 8 foot medley on four panels. The artists were selected by the Musicians Aide Society. Renee researched the men and women she was assigned to paint and was delighted to find that not only were they music legends and well respected for their music performance but three at least were also teachers of the highest caliber here in Nashville. Charles Dungy taught music at Tennessee State University, Buford Majors was a vocational education teacher and a music teacher and taught in the Metropolitan Nashville School District, and James “Nick” Nixon taught guitar for our department of Parks and Recreation and still is a part of Blues in the Schools. While Renee was working at Harris Hillman School she observed the faces of children filled with delight and still remembers the squeals of laughter as children were pulled into the musical moment of Cajun swing when Nick Nixon came with the Blues in the Schools program.  The paintings took her four months of focused work. The project began in December when she took their photos at a Christmas party planned for the Musicians Aide Society. Some of the subjects were gathered through old photos donated by loved ones. Any art project requires forethought as the plains and rolling hills of facial structure are contemplated. The size of a painting is always a factor in the length of time required to accomplish its completion. R.Somers much prefers to paint from life but in this busy day and age that is sometimes impractical.  Through the spring the paintings were in process. On the Celebrate Nashville event on June 23, the paintings were hung on the side of the building next to the interstate over pass over Jefferson Street. The balloons waved in the breeze as the music wafted through the air to honor those present and those that had passed on. The children that attended had participated in neighborhood clean up on the Beasley Street alley. Young DeSean Jackson was allowed to get onto the stage and test out the drums as his brothers Richard and Marcus watched along with friends April and Chan’dreka. There were many in attendance but none so delighted as the children. It was as though the moment was for the children as they sat on the front row, entranced by the harmonica, and bass guitar of Deford Bailey Jr. and with the inspirational music provided by The Gathering Band. Nick Nixon made some melodic magic and as we all ate ice cream provided by Beverly and Ed Kendall, and chowed down on food provided by local venders it became an event that connected our past with our present. Marion James and Lady Diane belted out the music rhythms and the audience swooned over the heart felt sound.  R. Somers will be having prints made of the art series of the Jefferson Street Musicians and these will be made available in the near future. If you are interested in a copy then please respond on the reply button on this web site or email R. Somers at rsomers@t-2-t.org or rsomers@mnps.org In the subject window, please note, “The Jefferson Street Musicians. Monies derived from the sale of these prints will be donated to Arts Alive and a portion will be given to The Musicians Aide Society. The works themselves are to be displayed in local art shows for a short time, but if anyone wants to purchase the originals, please feel free to make a bid for them. Contact R. Somers at 615 415 7633 with bids or requests to display The Musicians of Jefferson Street. A final note to say, all the wonderful musicians that lived and played on Jefferson Street were not painted, only these few. There were many musicians that emerged during the 50’s through the 70’s on Jefferson Street. These are just a small sample of the abundant talent of this era. For more information of this time period of music in Nashville and beyond, please take a trip to the Music Hall of Fame downtown. There you will be able to purchase a CD called Night Train to Nashville and find more information regarding these musicians. Update: May 05, 2007  The April 2007 Issue of the Arts Alive/ Scovel Street Neighborhood Watch has been released. Click here to view. Update: March 10th, 2007  The World from a child’s perspective is depicted in their artwork. The students that have been involved with the Portrait Society show their work with imagination and it is fascinating to see the delightful depictions of their work. Sometimes when looking at a certain picture one might not know which way to turn it, but children will readily explain it for they know well what they were expressing. As an Art Therapist, one knows, that the picture without the words is only half of the journey to understanding the world they are creating. In the Tulip Portraits, the students were all given the same arrangement of flowers to draw and paint. The work reflects the infinite ways that one image that is the same to everyone can be seen internally from many different perspectives. One child focus’ on the flowers, some the vase, some the shinny marbles in bottom of the vase and some see the back ground as important as the flowers. This display represents fourth grade students that were performing an art curriculum assignment to do a still life. They were given pencils and paints and paper and offered class time to complete the task. One of the important lessons for the children to learn is that they are individuals. They have a piece of paper that is their space in which they can observe an object and depict it without being wrong. Sometimes children are concerned that someone is “copying them”. I like to point out to them that we cannot copy each other. We are all beginning from different places. Our handwriting is different, our thumb prints are different, and our ears are different. Down to the small details we are different when it comes to who we are on the inside and how we appear on the outside and how we perceive the world around us. It then becomes natural to help them celebrate the differences. Our theme has been to Celebrate Nashville in the same way. Our city is unique and is made up of those of us that live here. It is because of each of us, that Nashville is a great place to live. Update: March 9th, 2007 Portrait Society Program updated Update: March 9th, 2007 Celebrate Nashville Event  Jazz Musicians that lived and played their music in the Jefferson Street area and who were once a part of the Jefferson Street Musical night life will be honored with portraits to be unveiled and displayed on the side of the building next to the overpass. There will be four panels side by side that are two feet by eight feet. Most musicians selected are still living except for DeFord Baily Sr. and Jimi Hendrix. The paintings will be temporarily displayed at our Celebrate Nashville event. We are in the process of planning the details. For now we do know the art work will be unveiled at that time. Renee Somers will paint the portraits in acrylic paints. It is her continued effort to dress up the face of Jefferson Street and honor the history and those who made it in the music field. It will be an event that is child friendly. We will have face painting, hot dogs, water play and bubbles. We will have venders this year that will sell food for anyone interested. We have invited local dignitaries to come and share the food and fun with us. We are hoping that Vice Mayor Gentry will come and say hello. We have invited Marion James and others to play traditional Jazz and blues for our easy going afternoon. The date has not been set to a definite date yet. Last year we had our event the third weekend of July. That is the ballpark plan of this year’s event. Originally we were thinking the 23rd of June would be good, however that would cause us to coincide with the Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues event. We don’t want to have all our fun at one time. Stay in touch and we will give you an update soon. Update: March 9th, 2007 Letter to the Community. Please read Update: March 9th, 2007 Man Learns Through his Senses - About Me Update: March 7th, 2007  Nguyen Vu, a volunteer, helping paint the children's faces Face Painting: An experiential approach to teach the use of paint brushes and the color wheel Face painting is a much better way to elevate children’s imaginations than a coloring sheet. Students feel the feather light touch of the soft hair paint brush as it glides and flows across the tender plains of the child’s cheek. In painting with young children, getting them to understand the delicacy of the bristles in the paintbrush is sometimes rather abstract. When I was teaching art at Harris Hillman School in Nashville, Tennessee, I would orient the children to the abilities and properties of the paint brush by painting their arm with warm soapy water or run a dry brush in the palm of their hand. The world is so concrete for pre-puberty children. They need to learn through experience and personal application. The face painting process, can teach the feel of an image being painted and that gives them a point of reference when beginning to paint. It is popular today much like tattoos. It may be a way of creating an identity with something a child perceives as notable. I painted some rainbows and thought of the lessons I am providing at my current elementary schools as we have been studying the color wheel. I wanted to take time to show the students the pallet I was using. I was mixing thalo blue and yellow to create a lovely spring green and mixing rose with yellow to create a pleasant orange and rose with thalo to make a lively violet. If time would allow in the classroom, this would be a great way to approach this art lesson. Unfortunately time is a big factor in a group setting where resolving behaviors and settling children in their seats takes a little more than a minute. Even so, I learned from this face painting adventure in Centennial Park that the task can be made if plans are made for special activities outside of the classroom. Perhaps a school fair, or at the parent teacher conference or as in the case of ARTS ALIVE, it can be done at a community gathering. I encourage those interested in teaching the color wheel to students, to create an opportunity to have a face painting activity. You can use; tempera paint, acrylic paint or grease paint like is used in the theatre. It does well when you have good paint brushes. Students need to be sitting down as they are more likely to stay still that way. Parents of course should be consulted as the personal space of a student is a concern. My motto is if learning can be fun, then why not! --Renee Somers (March 7th, 2007) |