Wednesday, August 22, 2007

By the Sea Serpent


Spread throughout the Nashville area are a number of wonderful parks and greenways. When school is not in session, you can usually find children climbing all over the playgrounds throughout the city. One of the most popular playgrounds in Nashville is the "Dragon Park," or Fannie Mae Dees Park as it is officially known.

In the late 70s, Chilean artist Pedro Silva designed and built the mosaic serpent using chipped, painted tiles. Silva used the tiles to make hundreds of different designs, fairy tales and portraits on the serpent. Included are portraits of Fannie Mae Dees (for whom the park is named), Minnie Pearl, Dolly Parton, and others.

In the photo, the serpent's head is in the foreground. The curled tail is on the right toward the back. And, there are no children around because it's still too hot in Nashville!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice parks and the artwork is delightful. No wonder the children relish going there.

Steve Buser said...

Great art. Really makes a space come alive.

--steve buser
New Orleans Daily Photo

lv2scpbk said...

Looks like a nice park.

Anonymous said...

I love parks and I love art, and these two together are always sure to make me want to come back..nice work from Silva--(I like that close up you posted after this).