The Birdhouse Thing III

Decorated by Taylor Swift, the birdhouse above is shaped a little differently than most of the others. Artists have the perogative to change the birdhouses however they like by pulling them apart, adding bases or legs or knobs, changing shapes and putting them back together. Both of the other two birdhouses retained their original shape while adding a bit to the base.

The birdhouse to the right, donated by Brad Paisley, sits on a post and resembles a rural mailbox. The red birdhouse (below left), donated by the country duo Sugarland, sports red feathers and glitz.

As I wrote in my two previous posts, the W.O. Smith School offers private and group music lessons to children of low-income families. The classes, taught entirely by a volunteer faculty, cost 50 cents per child per lesson. The school, through donations from the public and other means, is able to loan over 150 instruments annually to children who cannot otherwise afford them. The students do not pay extra for the instruments, music or instructional materials. NBC weatherman Al Roker, donated a truckload of instruments to the school last year through his "Al Lends a Hand" segment of the Today Show.

Over 350 children attend the more than 500 classes at the school. Unfortunately, the school has to turn away students due to space limitations. For years, two old houses have served as the school, and they offer only a total of about 2000 square feet of space. Fortunately, they have been able to start construction on a larger site. School administrators expect to be in the building later this year.
If you would like to watch a brief video on the school, click here to go to the school's website. At the bottom of the home page, click on the television.

Tomorrow is a special day for Nashville Daily Photo. Stay tuned!