Tag: Overton Park

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Overton Park Parking Plan Gets $3M in Federal Funding

Credit: Overton Park/Facebook

The project to forever eliminate parking on the Overton Park Greensward got $3 million in federal funding Wednesday. 

The U.S. House passed six spending bills Wednesday totaling more than $400 billion. Some of that money includes discretionary spending for projects all over the country, including the $3 million to further the Overton Park parking plan. 

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen announced the funding Thursday morning, noting that he voted for the bill that includes it. Cohen said the bill includes more than $17 million for Memphis projects, including $4 million for the renovation of the historic cobblestones at the river’s edge Downtown.

The new Overton Park parking plan was announced in March (more at the link below). It came after decades of complaints about Greensward parking, testy debates during Memphis City Hall meetings, a mediation process that ended at an impasse, a compromise plan that would have taken some acres from the Greensward, a hopeful new plan that would have built a parking deck on Prentiss Place and left the Greensward intact, and then the removal of that proposal after it proved too costly in favor of the previous compromise plan that would remove part of the Greensward. 

New parking plan restores Greensward, forest

The new plan preserves the entirety of the Greensward, restores 17 acres of parkland that has stood unused behind chainlink fences, swaps land between the park and the Memphis Zoo, and forever ends the zoo’s use of the Greensward for overflow parking. 

Much work is to be done before that happens, though, said Tina Sullivan, executive director of the Overton Park Conservancy (OPC), which oversees the park for the city. The $3 million, she said, will help that work get done, make for quality work, and, maybe, get that work done more quickly.

Memphis Flyer: How big of a deal is this federal funding to the project?

Tina Sullivan: This is a huge deal. We knew we had this wonderful solution in hand and we knew we had the support of stakeholders on both sides and the city of Memphis. But we also knew it was going to cost a lot to implement, and that was gonna require everyone to go out and raise more money. Congressman Cohen delivered in getting this to sail through the House process.

I know there is still work to be done, and that we have a little bit more to go before it’s completely finalized, but this allows us to implement a better solution in a shorter timeframe than we would have. This will allow us to have a high-quality result on every piece of property that we’re going to touch with it. 

What needs to be done?

TS: The project moves the zoo maintenance facility over to that southeast corner [of Overton Park] and allows the zoo to repave that current maintenance area [current home of the city’s General Services facility] for members parking. 

There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in that southeast corner to make it ready for the zoo to move in and make it ready for the Conservancy to move in to the Southern portion of that. There is a lot of work to be done on the zoo’s current maintenance area demolishing buildings and designing a new parking lot over there.

A lot of work needs to be done on the Greensward. We’re going to need to remediate the Greensward. Our vision is to have some sort of permanent barrier between the zoo parking lot and the rest of the park. So, I think the “berm” that was discussed in our early negotiations, that may soften into something that’s a visual and a physical barrier, but maybe not. Maybe it’ll be something a little more appropriate to the design of the park. So, that still needs to be designed and then implemented. 

Then, finally, part of this solution includes reclaiming that 17-acre tract of forest that’s been behind the zoo fence since for a couple of decades, at least. So, the zoo’s gonna need to move its exhibit space out from behind Rainbow Lake. And we need to take that big, chainlink fence down and move it over to establish a new zoo boundary in the forest. From there, we’ll have we’ll have some work to do in the forest, like invasive [plant] removal. 

There is a large amount of work yet to be done. That’s going to cost a lot of money.

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Opinion The Last Word

Memphis is My Boyfriend: Shell Shenanigans

The Shell’s classes free the body and mind, sometimes the bladder. (Photo: Courtesy Patricia Lockhart)

I’m all for trying new experiences. My friends will tell you that I’m quick to happily drag them to some place or event without having the slightest clue of all of the details. Like that time I convinced my friends to go walking through the woods because it seemed like a path that people really didn’t walk on. There was a reason for that, and we ended up getting “lost” (her word not mine).

So while searching for something new to experience in 2021, I came across a post from the Shell, formerly known as Levitt Shell, but now called Overton Park Shell. They had free workout classes on weekday evenings and Saturday mornings. I love free things. After messaging my friends, we decided to give the Saturday morning kickboxing class a try. I haven’t done any kickboxing since my Tae Bo days in high school with Billy Blanks. Nevertheless, I was stoked!

That morning, I drank a levy’s worth of water and headed to the Shell. We found a good spot, high-fived each other, and began. Y’all … y’all … y’all … I was not ready. Billy Blanks ain’t got nothin’ on those Kroc Center instructors. In the first session I attended, I promise I lost two lbs. and a little common sense. I gave that class my all, my everything! After the kickboxing class ended, we moved straight to yoga. And I moved straight to sleep. In the middle of the Shell, with folks all around me, I took myself a little nappy-nap. After I woke, I needed to do one thing: take a restroom break. I tiptoed through the crowd to the bathroom with my Baptist “Excuse Me” Finger in the air, only to discover that the restroom was locked. Not wanting to leave class, even though I just slept for 20ish minutes, I held tight for dear life and waited on my friends.

I returned to the Shell for several more Saturday-morning workouts. After kickboxing, I often just laid there. Not immediately, but as time progressed, I got stronger. Eventually I was able to do 5-20 minutes of yoga before napping out. Also, bonus, the restrooms were later unlocked.

Fast-forward to the present, the Overton Shell has started up the Health and Wellness Series again. Now you too can have a healthy, life-changing experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed Twilight Yoga and Pilates, but one yoga session stretched my bladder more than I want to admit. As usual, I drank a levy of water again before driving to the Overton Park Shell. (Look, I seriously believe in hydration.) Although I arrived a little late in my cute Fabletics outfit, I found a good shady spot. I quietly rolled out my yoga mat and mentally prepared myself for this woo-say moment. As I exhaled a long, deep breath, my bladder also tried to exhale. My eyes shot open! Every muscle in my body tensed and I willed them to suck back in every ounce of moisture in my body. Once I felt I was in stable condition to move without leaking, I headed to the restroom by the side of the stage. As I walked, I saw that there was a gate and a lock on the restroom. A gate and a lock! Quickly, I thought of my options: Keep walking past the restroom in search of a bush; turn around, grab my things, and leave in search of a proper restroom; or try the restroom on top of the hill.

Afraid to exhale too hard, I took a quick, shallow breath and chose Option C. I trudged all the way up the hill only to find that those restrooms were locked, too. I went back to my mat. I sat down and regrouped my bladder. After about five minutes, my body had finally calmed down. I did about two or three yoga poses before I felt the dam starting to give way. It was now or never. In one quick swoop, I grabbed my keys, water bottle, mat, and shoes and sashayed to my car. I drove to the nearest restroom and vowed to get some pelvic floor therapy from Sundara Wellness. Crisis averted. The next Twilight Yoga and Pilates was perfect.

Since I haven’t tried all the classes, be sure you check out overtonparkshell.com for all of the Health and Wellness classes they are offering throughout the summer until October/November. Yeah, that’s a lot of free classes. I know I’ll definitely be attending more Twilight Yoga and Pilates and maybe a little body combat (aka kickboxing). But what I’m most excited about is the goat yoga on June 26th! 901Goats will help me relax while daydreaming about farm life. This is bound to be an excellent experience.

Here are a few pro tips for the Health and Wellness Series: Bring water. Ice cold water. Bring something to wipe the sweat off your face. The instructors will ask you to do some pretty amazing things. Try them out; you can always nap later. Bring a friend or make a friend while you’re there. Wear sunscreen and a hat; you are outside after all. Have fun. Most importantly, pee before you go.

Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. Her days are filled with laughter with her four kids and charming husband. By day, she’s a school librarian and a writer, but by night … she’s asleep. @realworkwife @memphisismyboyfriend

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Overton Park, “Scary” Memphis, and Sam With Ellen

Posted to Facebook by Overton Park Conservancy

Memphis on the internet.

#Huzzah

Cheers rang through the MEMernet last week on news of a new deal for Overton Park, announced last week by officials from the city of Memphis, Memphis Zoo, and Overton Park Conservancy. The deal will save the entire Greensward, end zoo parking on the field, add about 20 to 25 acres of parkland, add about 300 new parking spaces for the zoo, and more.

Tensions over Greensward parking go back to the 1980s but intensified in 2014 when Citizens to Protect Overton Park launched its “Get Off Our Lawn” campaign. The ensuing years had protests with police helicopters, three plans, and a second line for trees that were cut down.

Eye roll

Posted to YouTube by Nick Johnson

Need rage? Go hate-watch Nick Johnson’s YouTube video titled: “Here’s Memphis, Tennessee: The Poorest, Most Dangerous Place in the South.” The travel vlogger drove through South Memphis early one November morning and said, “Memphis is maybe the scariest place you could visit,” and “I wonder if Elvis would be sad about the way [his] hometown looks these days.”

Go, Sam!

Memphian Sam White, known for his viral “You Can Be ABCs” video, sat with Ellen DeGeneres last week to talk about his new “You Can Be ABCs” book.

Posted to Facebook by More With Sam

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News News Blog News Feature

New Deal Saves Greensward, Adds Parkland, Forest Land, and Zoo Parking Spaces

Credit: Overton Park Conservancy

The Overton Park Greensward is kept whole in a new plan that will permanently end parking there, add 17 acres of forested parkland, add 300 parking spaces for the Memphis Zoo, and, perhaps, finally solve a decades-old problem. 

Leaders with the city of Memphis, Memphis Zoo, and Overton Park Conservancy (OPC), announced the new plan Tuesday afternoon. In it, properties will be reshuffled and repurposed to fit the needs of all involved. 

For decades, the zoo has used the 12-acre Greensward for overflow parking. The issue simmered until 2014 when Citizens to Protect Overton Park (CPOP) organized the “Get Off Our Lawn” campaign that brought the issue into focus and to the fore. By 2016, OPC and the zoo joined in mediation to find a solution. 

That solution aimed to reconfigure the zoo’s main parking lot to add 415 spaces, a number mandated by the Memphis City Council. This plan was paused to explore the cost of a new modular garage that would have been built on the surface lot on Prentiss Place. 

In 2021, projections put the cost of the garage at $5 million, above the $3 million both the zoo and OPC had committed to the original plan to reconfigure the main parking lot. In October, the groups announced they’d scratched the plan for the garage and would revert to the plan to pave the lot and take 2.4 acres of the Greensward. As construction was slated to get underway, this plan was halted late last year to explore other options.  

The new plan will:

• convert the zoo’s current maintenance facility (on the north side of the zoo on North Parkway) to zoo member parking

• add 300 new parking spaces for the zoo

• renovate and re-stripe the zoo’s current main lot (without expanding it) 

• vacate the city’s general services maintenance lot (about 12 acres on East Parkway) 

• add zoo maintenance facilities to that space on about six acres

• the remaining six acres will be converted to park space for visitors

 • this space will have a new access point to the Old Forest trails

•  establish a new walking trail around the north side of the Greensward, marking the separation from the field and zoo parking 

• return 17 acres of forest land to the Overton Park

• this land was held by the zoo for future expansion, particularly an exhibit called the “Chickasaw Bluffs”

• return a few acres of land close to Rainbow Lake from the zoo to the park 

• the zoo will give OPC $400,000

“This is a solution that we think works for everyone,” said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. “It adds significant new park space for Memphians, about 20 to 25 acres. 

“It preserves 17 acres of old forest and provides the zoo with the parking it needs as the top attraction in Memphis. It provides the zoo a quality maintenance area for its operations. It also provides both the conservancy and the zoo the opportunity to avoid spending for what has become an almost $2.5 million expansion of the existing lot.”

Some were shocked and disappointed when the garage idea was retired. However, Doug McGowan, the city’s Chief Operating Officer, said the project was more an exploration than a dedicated plan. When asked if this new plan was guaranteed to stick, McGowen said, “I guess it’s about as guaranteed as you’re going to get.” 

“You have all three organizations coming together saying this really brings us closer together in alignment, and that it forges the same vision of the park in the future,” McGowan said. “And the mayor and the council are behind it.”   

Strickland said work on the project will begin as early as this fall, when some fences begin to come down. The city won’t leave the general services area until summer of next year, however. This means the zoo can’t move its maintenance operations and Greensward parking will continue at least through this year and probably longer.  

When asked how the agreement came about, Tina Sullivan, executive director of the OPC said the groups simply continued to work on it. 

“Our organizations have come together to create a plan that sees them as parts of a united whole,” Sullivan said. “The zoo and the conservancy share a common focus on conservation. Today reflects a convergence toward our shared mission and our community partnership.”

Zoo president and CEO Jim Dean called the agreement “transformational” for the zoo. 

“The city’s General Services facilities will vastly improve our infrastructure at the zoo,” Dean said. “When completed, this project will not only solve our short-term parking requirements and help traffic flow. It will also provide a solution for our long-term parking needs.” 

Once the work is finished and the last car leaves the Greensward, Sullivan invited “all of you to a picnic and a very competitive game of volleyball on that space.”  

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Music Music Blog

Call it the Overton Park Shell: More Than a Name Change

The Overton Park Shell (Credit: Alex Greene)

Casual passers-by in Overton Park may have noted a recent change in its fabled band shell, first built in 1936 at the behest of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Since 2005, when the Levitt Foundation stepped in to renovate and sponsor the iconic Memphis landmark, it’s been known as the Levitt Shell.

But the lettering over the stage has changed this past week, in preparation for a major overhaul in the Shell’s administration that officially begins today. Once again, it will be known as the Overton Park Shell.

This decision was made by the Levitt Shell’s board of directors after months of discussion. With the name change, control of the Shell also passes to a new local nonprofit to be known as The Overton Park Shell. The restructuring will allow the organization more freedom to launch a new outreach strategy into underserved neighborhoods and ZIP codes of Memphis and Shelby County, making the Shell more accessible for all of Memphis.

Overton Park Shell executive director Natalie Wilson says, “We’re grateful for 17 years of partnership with the Levitt Foundation, who helped us save it. Now we can take the stage back to its historic roots and live our mission even more. We as the board made the decision that we could truly lend more sustainability to the community by bringing in more local investment. With local partners supporting us. Families. Foundations. Individuals. Businesses that believe in the work we do. We wanted to build our sustainability locally. Since I came in in 2019, we’ve been working to find local sustainability, and we have now. We’re grateful for it.”

As Wilson notes, while the Levitt Foundation works with several open-air stages across the country, the band shell in Memphis has special needs. “The other venues are all new venues,” she says. “We’re the only historic venue. The other ones were all built in the past 16 years, but we have major deferred maintenance that I have to continue to focus on, on behalf of the citizens of Memphis. There are so few of us that were built by the WPA. The round band shells, there are very few of us.

“We’re owned by the city, by the citizens, so we have a responsibility for the continued preservation of the Shell. So on top of managing it and the mission, I’ve got to renovate it. I’ve got to preserve it. So, that’s how different we were from the others. When you have an old girl like the Shell, sometimes the largest things you can do, you can’t see, like renovation. Also, the city depends on us as a nonprofit for the money to renovate it. We don’t get that support from the city. It’s up to us to make sure it can stand, that it’s safe, and that it will be treasured another 85 years.

“I told Liz Levitt Hirsch, ‘You helped save the Shell. You will always have that legacy. And we’ll always have a special marker on the lawn that speaks to the Levitt era.’ They started with two years of renovation money — a million dollars. And then 15 years of programming support. And that’s why I say they saved the Shell. Because if it wasn’t for their initial support, we wouldn’t be able to create what we do today. It would not be here.”

For her part, Hirsch celebrates the change. “Coming to the Shell for the first time to meet with local community leaders nearly two
decades ago, we knew the magic could, and would, return. Music is a universal language that we all speak and delight in, especially in public spaces where we can celebrate our shared humanity. The Levitt Foundation is incredibly proud to be part of the Shell’s legacy — supporting its rebirth as a cherished gathering place for the entire
community,” said Hirsch, board president of the Levitt Foundation, in a press release. “Levitt Shell Memphis has been a beautiful reflection of the Levitt mission, bringing people together from all walks of life to experience acclaimed artists in a free, open lawn setting. The Shell team has built a strong foundation to continue creating a warm and inclusive environment with accessible arts experiences at its core. We’re excited to watch them soar to new heights.”

Wilson also notes that the local support that started in the Levitt era will continue. “We’re grateful for NexAir, who’s been an integral partner for many years, and will continue to be our venue presenting sponsor. And we’re grateful for others, like the Orion Federal Credit Union, who’s the official music partner of the Shell. They’ve rallied behind our nonprofit from the beginning.”

Ultimately, she says, this is a way of bringing it all back home. “It’s not like it’s a name that people are not familiar with,” she says. “The Overton Park Shell has a history, and that history is amazing. The new Overton Park Shell will be just as incredible.”

Right out of the gate, a schedule of live music at the venue is already taking shape. “Starting this summer, at the end of May, we’ll kick off the season with our Sunset Symphony, which we’re thrilled about bringing back, in partnership with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. And that will be the last Sunday of May. Then through the summer we’ll have Thursday through Saturday night concerts that will be free, and then fall concerts on Friday and Saturday nights. And in between, we’ll have our Shell Yeah! concert series, our ticketed shows.

“We’ll also have other partnership events. The Shell is a home for lots of events in the city, and we want more people to think of the Shell as their home for great community events. Dreamfest will be in May this year. There will be the Tri-State Black Pride event and the Tambourine Bash and nonprofit fundraising events. There’ll be all types of events through the year.”

Overall, Wilson reflects, it’s about balancing such activities with historical preservation. “We believe going back to the Overton Park Shell speaks to a name that’s been treasured for many many years here,” she says. “More than ever, the Shell’s name speaks to being rooted in community. And we want to make sure that with this name change, our mission isn’t going to change. It’s even going to grow even more.”

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News News Blog News Feature

Whatever Happened To: The Cooper-Poplar Connector to Overton Park

Credit: Bianca Phillips

Whatever happened to that project to add a pedestrian and bike entrance at Poplar and Cooper to Overton Park?

For the second installment of our occasional series, called “Whatever Happened To,” we’re checking in on a proposed street-improvement project intended to make Memphis more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. Announcements for the Cooper-Poplar Connector — the project to make a bike-and-pedestrian-friendly crossing from Cooper across Poplar and into Overton Park — came as early as 2014, nearly eight years ago.

In March 2016, the project won a $25,000 grant from the First Tennessee Foundation (the bank has changed hands twice since that announcement). The grant was set to help the project unlock federal funds, which it did.

Credit: Overton Park Conservancy

At the time, we reported that the Connector “was designed by Ritchie Smith Associates and calls for a second crosswalk on the west side of the intersection, a protected bike crossing at the traffic signal, a new landing pad on the park side for bikes and pedestrians, and a new path that will connect to the park’s trail system.” To get an update on the project, we talked to Nicholas Oyler, Bikeway and Pedestrian Manager for the city of Memphis. — Toby Sells

Memphis Flyer: Whatever happened with the Cooper-Poplar Connector at Overton Park?

Nicholas Oyler: Let me make sure we’re on the same page of what this project is. It’s targeting the intersection of Cooper and Poplar. We’d be building a new entrance plaza to Overton Park on the north side of Poplar. It would have a new, little paved area with some minimal landscaping. There would be a paved path that connects this plaza over to Veteran’s Plaza and other existing sidewalks that lead into the park.

It would also improve pedestrian and bicyclist crossings on Poplar so that you can be able to get across Poplar a lot safer and more comfortable than you can today. The city just installed bike lanes on Cooper leading up to Poplar. Then, they kind of stop abruptly. Once this plaza and that connection goes in, it will be made more seamless and it’ll feel a lot safer getting across.

Thank you for the refresher, sir. So, what happened with this project?

It’s received a federal grant to cover 80 percent of the costs. Anytime you have federal funds — and I am very grateful for the funding source; it really helps us out — it comes with a lot of hoops we have to jump through, a lot of paperwork.

On this project, we were caught off guard a little bit by the requirements we had to go through for the environmental review. The Tennessee Department of Transportation determined that we would need to do … more work on the environmental review than we had originally had anticipated, because it is in a park. So, that added to the scope a little bit and just another box we had to check. So that slowed it down.

But the good news is that we do now have the environmental clearance. We’ve received that in late 2018. Since then, the project has been in the design phase. At this point, we anticipate breaking ground in mid-2023.

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At Large Opinion

Wink: A Dog’s Tale

Wink (Photo: Bruce VanWyngarden)

A couple weeks ago, on a day when the temperature was in the low 20s, I decided to take my dogs on a walk at Overton Park. They were acting antsy and I figured I could handle the cold for a half-hour or so.

We usually hit the Overton Bark dog enclosure first, so my dogs can get their ya-yas out with other dogs before walking the trails. On this cold day, however, there was only one dog there — a shivering white pup with no collar or tags. She was standing on an icy patch of ground and her eyes were wide and fearful. An older couple walked by in thick parkas and said, “That dog’s been here for a while. Do you think her owner’s taking a walk?”

No, I thought. I think some asshole dumped this innocent pup at a dog park on a freezing winter day, hoping someone would rescue her. I took my dogs for a walk, resolving that if the pup was still there when we got back, it was my karma to save her.

A half-hour later, as I put her in the back of my car, there was a little grumbling from my two, but nothing serious. The pup looked like a pitbull mix, female, and sported one sassy eye that looked like it had been made-up by RuPaul. She was rib-skinny but affectionate and trusting. When we got home, I put food in a bowl for her. She inhaled it like oxygen, then lay down on a dog bed and slept for four hours without moving, recovering from the cold, exhaustion, and whatever she’d been through on the streets of Memphis.

I named her Wink because of that eye, and I called my daughter Mary, who works with Blues City Animal Rescue. She’s a pro at this stuff. We put out some feelers on social media and, after a couple of days, found a foster home for Wink. But it didn’t work out, so I got Wink back a day later. To be honest, I was becoming fond of her. She was gentle, non-aggressive, high-spirited, and didn’t run to the door and bark every time a delivery person came onto the porch — like my two idiots do six times a day. She was also a great TV-cuddler and would sleep through anything once she conked out.

There were a few suitors. One young couple brought their dog, but it didn’t like Wink. Another guy said he’d get back to me. Another had a family emergency. These things take time, Mary said.

My wife and I noticed that Wink was very independent. She’d snuggle, loved to play and fetch, but wouldn’t come when called. She was quirky. Something seemed off.

The next night, it clicked. I was prepping the dog bowls in the kitchen, my two hounds at my feet, excited, waiting for the nightly miracle. Wink was in the next room, snoring in a chair. When the bowls were ready, I hollered at her. No response. I whistled. I walked over to her and clapped my hands over her head. No response.

Wink was deaf as a stone.

Everything suddenly made sense: the deep sleeps (she was basically in a sensory-deprivation tank); the lack of response to sweet-talk or calls to “come” or attempts to give her a name. How this deaf dog survived out on the streets, I have no idea. How she survived and retained such a loving nature toward humans and other dogs is nothing short of a miracle.

In a couple of days, she began to respond to hand signals. I’ve ordered a sub-sonic whistle, in hopes she’ll be able to hear it. Wink is going to make it. She’s going to find her true home. We’re patient, and she’s a survivor. You heard it here first.

Email me if interested: brucev@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
Music Record Reviews

Autumn Almanac: Paul Taylor’s Old Forest LP

The Old Forest Trail, half of this year's double-EP release by New Memphis Colorways

With the Memphis Zoo now backpedaling on their ostensible commitment to avoid using the Overton Park Greensward as a parking lot, everything old is new again, and that includes a renewed appreciation of Overton Park by we, the people. How timely, then, to revisit some music inspired by that great green space. In this case, it’s two EPs by Memphis native Paul “Snowflake” Taylor, aka New Memphis Colorways, which were paired together earlier this year as a single LP in glorious vinyl.

One side of Paul Taylor’s double-EP release (Credit: Paul Taylor)

Memphis Flyer readers already know Old Forest Loop, a groovy, rollicking EP of instrumentals, which Andria Lisle profiled on its release in 2018. All riffs, beats, and changing gears, Taylor conceived of it as “homemade and light-hearted, and I see it as kind of a start-over for me. This is music I deliberately made for people to take summertime drives to — they can grill to it or swim to it.”

And yet, it somehow matches the elation Memphians feel at the return of cool weather as well. It’s an active record, an up record, and fits that impulse to get out of the house for some hiking, biking, or more. Having taken it on a test run while cooking out in the backyard, I can attest to the truth of Taylor’s claim that it pairs well with grilling.

Another side of Paul Taylor’s double-EP release (Credit: Paul Taylor)

If that’s one side of fall, the beauty of these twin EPs being brought together is that the older work, 2015’s The Old Forest Trail, perfectly matches autumn’s air of melancholy and reflection. A largely acoustic outing, it is, in Taylor’s words, “An homage to a sacred natural space in the middle of Memphis TN — the Old Forest Arboretum located in Overton Park.” The somewhat more wistful sound also matches what Taylor was going through in the year of its release, and he notes: “Also lovingly dedicated to the memory of my father, Pat Taylor 1949-2015.”

As he told Lisle, “When my dad [Memphis musician Pat Taylor, a veteran of numerous bands including the Breaks and the Village Sound] was sick, I was playing acoustic guitar by his bedside, and when he passed in early 2015, I was spending a lot of time in the Old Forest in Overton Park.” The peace of wild things, as poet Wendell Berry put it, is thus very much present in this set of songs, which sometimes echo Nick Drake’s application of a folk picking style to unexpected chords.

Another aspect of this album that is uniquely Memphis is the label: It’s the first release in many years by the great Peabody Records, founded by the late Sid Selvidge, now kept afloat by his son Steve. As Taylor points out in the notes, Old Forest Loop/The Old Forest Trail is “a joint venture between Peabody Records and The Owl Jackson Jr. Record Company.”

Ultimately, a refreshingly holistic view of Overton Park comes across with this album: a place of rambunctious activity and a place of solace. Delve into both with this multifaceted work by one of this city’s greatest players.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Memphis Artist Illustrates Battle for the Greensward

(Credit: Martha Kelly)
Memphis artist Martha Kelly brings her talents as a painter to the fight to protect the Greensward at Overton Park.

Martha Kelly is a Memphis artist who is passionate about the city’s public green spaces. She has followed the struggle to protect the Overton Park Greensward, which has been ongoing for years. Martha maintains a home gallery of her paintings and prints in Midtown Memphis. To see more, here’s her website.

Categories
At Large Opinion

The Lion Clean: Learning the Ropes at the Brooks

Bruce VanWyngarden

Tiara Woods and Paul Tracy are cleaning lions this week — namely the fearsome-looking stone creatures that guard the bottom of the stairs leading from Morrie Moss Lane up to the west side of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

The lions have been on duty in this location since at least the early 1980s, when they were moved here from a grand mansion that once stood on Union Avenue. Paul and Tiara have been on duty in this location for seven days, as of last Friday.

Though the lions were unable to protect their former home from the predations of a fast-food franchise developer, they’ve held up nicely here in this shady nook in Overton Park — except for some lichens, moss, soot, forest detritus, and occasional bird poop. They still look fierce, but they’ve never been cleaned and could use a proper spruce-up. Which is where Tiara and Paul come in.

Paul Tracy has been a preparator at the Brooks since 1982, when he was hired fresh out of nearby Southwestern College (now Rhodes). You might say he knows the neighborhood, having grown up in Crosstown and gone to Catholic High School, a couple blocks away.

Tiara graduated from Overton High School and attends the University of Tulsa. She is working at the Brooks this summer through an internship sponsored by Studio Institute, which endeavors to get young people connected to the visual arts and art careers. She wants to be an art conservator.

Tiara Woods, Paul Tracy, and a lion. (Photo: Bruce Vanwyngarden)

For the past week or so, Paul and Tiara have been working side by side. Paul has the lion on the right side of the steps; Tiara, the one on the left. They are using a combination of brushes, headstone-cleaning solution, water, and bamboo skewers. It is tedious, serious detail work. The stone is porous, pocked with nooks and crannies, tiny fossils, and complex carving details.

“You have to wet down an area, then spray it with cleaner and let it sit for a bit.” says Paul. “Then you scrub with brushes and pick at the small crevices and pock-marks with the skewers. Your fingers get kinda numb, so after a couple of hours, you have to stop.”

It’s the kind of work that might test the dedication of some young people, but for Tiara, it’s all part of the learning curve. “I like finding out how all these roles come together,” she says, “how people wear different hats.”

“It’s true,” says Paul. “It’s always something different. One day I’m matting a Rembrandt print, the next day I’m moving a heavy crate to a gallery to unpack.”

The museum began the cleaning of its outside artwork during the pandemic. “A lot of employees could work from home,” says Paul. “But the preparators, not so much, because we work on the objects, the art itself, and we couldn’t work in the museum. So it was decided that we would work on the art objects that were outside. It kept us on the payroll, which was nice, and it’s really spruced things up around here. Before this, we cleaned the seasons statues and they look wonderful — and they were a lot easier than these lions.”

After Paul and Tiara are finished cleaning the kings of Morrie Moss Lane, Tiara will move on to spend some time working on pre-Columbian objects with conservators.

“She wants to be a real conservator,” says Paul, laughing. “I just play one on TV.”

Tiara smiles. “I’m just really interested in art conservation,” she says. “And interested in working in a museum setting — so this is a great opportunity for me to get experience in an actual museum.”

And outside of one.