If you’re a driver you’ve gotta park somewhere, which is why it bothers me that parking garages are usually dull and dismal places. I suppose for cars they’re the equivalent of a hotel room—not really your destination, but rather a stopping place to rest your head and store your stuff. Although I realize there may be people who enjoy hotel rooms, who look forward to them as part of the travel experience. There may even be people who plan their vacation around a specific hotel rather than the things they can do in the surrounding area. If you’re one of those people, great, no judgment—even if your possible existence did get me completely off what I was trying to say, which is that even if a hotel room is part of the journey rather than the destination there is some effort in making them comfortable and making them look nice. Is it too much to ask the same of parking garages?
That’s why this sidewalk-level entrance to a parking garage on Nashville’s West End caught my attention:
And it’s a lucky thing too because if I hadn’t been walking I might never have noticed what’s in the parking garage.
This is not the first time I’ve found public art decorating a parking garage, but, unlike the previous one just off Elliston Place, this one included these great statements by artist Brian Tull, who’s responsible for quite a bit of public art around Nashville. And these murals, like the vehicles that park in front of them, can transport you–even if only metaphorically.
I just hope these paintings don’t make whatever you’re driving feel insecure.
You never make me feel insecure, Chris. Thanks for another awesome trip.
It’s the company that makes every trip worth it, and I may not know where we’re going but I’m glad we’re traveling together.
Hey, That is cool! They should hire graffiti artists to paint Parking Garages.
That’s a really great idea! I know that the Elliston Place parking garage has been decorated by some local graffiti artists who were hired to do it, and there are some murals in north Nashville that were painted by local graffiti artists who were hired. There are so many places that could benefit from public art and so many graffiti artists who could benefit from being hired to create works.
Don’t know who I would bring it up to, here? The city office?
I know naming cars is not uncommon, but I’ve never known anyone who does it, and it makes me think of Christine. I’m more worried about the car in the paintings than anything I might drive!
The only person I know who named a car was a friend who named her car “Fritz” because it was always on the…Anyway I think the old tradition of naming ships comes from a belief that giving them a persona would make them more likely to bring you home safely. Maybe we take cars too much for granted.
The art is beautiful but more than that, I admire your bravery for going down that staircase–who knows what could have been lurking down there!
Since I knew it was a parking garage I was fairly confident it was safe to go down that staircase. My search for graffiti has taken me to places I probably shouldn’t have gone to, though, and I’m not sure if that’s bravery or stupidity.