Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The BirdHouse Thing II


As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Nashville-area artists, celebrities and musicians decorate birdhouses which the W.O. Smith School auctions the birdhouses to raise funding for the school. The birdhouses I'm showing you today were all decorated and donated by Country Music stars. Some of the birdhouses will be on the Country Music Television Auction website from March 7-21. Kenny Chesney's birdhouse has a pirate theme going, while Rascal Flatts (right) is a little more into Las Vegas with the card/dice decorations. One of the other artists told me that Wynona (left) and her two children decorate a birdhouse every year.

William Oscar Smith, from whom the school gets its name, graduated from NYU in the early 40s, but continued his education at University of Texas and University of Iowa, where he received his PhD. After serving as a band director in the US Army during WWII, he was a back-up musician to Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie and played at the Cotton Club and Savoy Room. However, once his children were born, he moved his family to Nashville so that he could teach at Tennessee State University. In addition to his work at TSU, Smith was also the second African-American to play with the Nashville Symphony, playing viola and bass. During his 30 years at the university, Smith saw the need for music education for children who couldn't afford it, and two years after his retirement from the university, the W.O. Smith School opened. Smith passed away in 1991.

Tomorrow, I'll show you a couple more celebrity birdhouses and tell you a little more about the school.

11 comments:

quintarantino said...

Olá Chris...
Casas bonitas, os pássaros devem gostar.
Piratas? Gostei!

Unknown said...

Hi Chris,
This is a great idea. I love bird houses. They are decorative outside the house and quite nice for birds too. I like the third one very much. It's cute.

Anonymous said...

I think this is a great idea.

Fénix - Bostonscapes said...

Beautiful things, Chris. Love bird houses, I started a collection, some years ago, for the cottage but two very cute ones have made their way to our flat here in the city, they were made by a great sculptor who passed away a while ago, so they are very especial.

Coincidentally, today I'm featuring art by local artists as well. :)

Carlos Lorenzo said...

Besides the beauty of the small houses and I particularly enjoyed learning about the man after whom the school was named. By the way I chose you today. I see that you've been nominated before so I guess you may skip the chain thing. I do insist you come and read what I had to say. Thank for being around Chris.

Juneau Alaska Photos said...

What fun! It would be a great activity for a party. Better yet, what about a monthly theme (unique bird houses) for the photo blog community?

Southern Heart said...

I will have to show these to "the guys" in my family. They will get a kick out of seeing the creations of some of their favorite performers!

Jim Klenke said...

They auction them huh? I would go broke I think.

Olivier said...

j'adore la maison des pirates ;o)

I love the house hackers ;o)

Halcyon said...

That's a really good story. I'm glad there are still people who care about the arts. I think music is such a good thing for children. They learn to express their creativity and build discipline. And bravo to the volunteer teachers too!

Ming the Merciless said...

Cute birdhouses!!