A Firm is Selected and the Work Begins…

A Firm is Selected
and the Work
Begins…
Hope Stringer, Board Chair
Mayor Dean charged the Centennial Park Master
Plan Committee with one overarching purpose: to
revitalize a park that is at once a prime player in
Metro Nashville’s network of greenspaces while also
serving as Nashville’s central park. This revitalization
involves much more than a general sprucing up.
The Committee’s objective is a long range plan
that acknowledges past and future simultaneously,
respecting the tradition of Centennial Park as a
showcase for Nashville’s culture, arts and history, while
transforming the park into a model of sustainable
ecological practice and horticultural excellence.
March, 2010
In responding to the challenge, the Committee’s
first task was to select a design firm. With an
outstanding show of interest, 23 firms applied for the
work. After much vetting, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol,
of Seattle and London, has been selected. Principal
Kathryn Gustafson trained at Versailles and her awardwinning work can be found throughout Asia and
Europe.
Nashville sustainability expert, Wilmot & Associates,
along with Nashville architect Price Harrison, RPM Transportation Consultants
and local historian Dr. Carroll Van West are part of the project. This group has
an unrivaled opportunity to better connect the Parthenon with its historic park
surroundings, to reverse decades of environmental decline and to aim high to
make Centennial a world-class park.
The design team and the Mayor’s Committee are now set to begin the complex
process to develop the plan. The goal is to create a design that will revitalize the
park and guide all future development. Public Meetings will structure the goals,
tasks and deliverables for the Master Plan. These are times to give a voice to the
stakeholders of Centennial Park. Please watch local media for information about
Public Meetings and ways you may give input to the planners.
We want to thank the Mayor’s Committee who worked diligently to select
the best team for this job. Please help me in thanking: Committee Chair George
Anderson, Ben Armistead, Stan Fossick, Aubrey Harwell, Christine Kreyling, Chris
Kyriopoulos, Reavis Mitchell, Judson Newbern, and Honorary Chair, Nick Zeppos.
We’re off to a great start!
The Conservancy is the private, not-for-profit organization, which serves the
community through stewardship and promotion of The Parthenon and
Centennial Park. We strive to educate the public through programs and exhibits,
as well as offer a venue for people with a passion for history, culture and the arts.
Our mission is to strengthen, enhance, restore and preserve The Parthenon and
Centennial Park, in partnership with Metro Parks and the people of Nashville.
A Word of Thanks
Sylvia Rapoport, President
There is a poem which begins, “When the temple bell
rings, the sounds continue through the flowers.” The
leadership of our donors represents that bell. We have
been extremely fortunate to receive stellar support from
members of our community.
When a rare, but damaged book of photographs
was discovered at the Parthenon, Hope and Howard Stringer immediately
responded with funding to repair the treasure. The Acropolis of Athens by
William James Stillman will return from the conservator this spring, and visitors
will have an unparalleled opportunity to view something of real cultural
importance from 1870. An added bonus is that it is absolutely gorgeous!
The Conservancy has worked diligently to identify areas in Centennial Park
that require attention. Since certain monuments and other structures are
in dangerous disrepair, time is of the essence. When descendents of John
Thomas were made aware of the situation, they eagerly responded and we are
thrilled that the complete restoration of this monument will be finished by the
end of March. We are indebted to Marianne and Andrew Byrd for shepherding
their family to underwrite this project.
A Master Plan is the first step to ensure a successful revitalization of Centennial
Park. Neighbors HCA and Vanderbilt, along with Shoney’s, are graciously
funding this important phase of our future. Our deep appreciation to these
corporate donors for their contribution toward this significant public-private
partnership. Everyone involved is committed to an outstanding result.
It is impossible to measure the people who will benefit from the examples of
Hope and Howard Stringer, the Byrd family, HCA, Vanderbilt and Shoney’s. It is
by building the future that we express belief and confidence in those who will
come after us. Despite the current economy, this is a pivotal moment in the life
of the Parthenon and Centennial Park. Please join us as we soar!
Snow has been a common sight in Centennial
Park this winter. Photo
by Cheryl Brown.
A Monumental Find
Brenna Cothran
Registrar and Assistant Curator
Part of my job at the Parthenon includes making sure I know what everything is,
where it is, and that it’s being documented and cared for properly. Over the last
year, I’ve been going through every nook and cranny in the Collections storage
room, and I’ve come across some pretty neat stuff: two scrapbooks someone had
made of newspaper clippings about the 1897 Centennial Exposition, and a visitors’
register for the Parthenon dating from May
1931. On the very bottom of the last shelf I
examined was a box labeled “Stillman book.”
I opened the box, and inside was a complete
copy of the book of stunning photographs of
the Acropolis by William James Stillman, titled
The Acropolis of Athens, Illustrated Picturesquely
and Architecturally in Photography. I got
goosebumps and my hair stood on end. I
was holding a volume of incredible rarity and
cultural importance.
The author/photographer, William James
Stillman (1828-1901), is a fascinating figure. He
started his career as a painter associated with
the Hudson River School, and co-founded the
very influential art journal The Crayon. He was
friends with John Ruskin, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Oliver
Wendell Holmes, among others, and was artist Frederic Church’s first student. He
began taking photographs in 1859, and soon after began traveling the globe, first
as a journalist and travel writer, and then as a consul in Rome and Crete. He moved
to Athens in 1868; soon afterwards his young son died and his wife committed
suicide. Stillman turned to photography as an outlet, and took the 25 photographs
of the Acropolis in this book in 1869.
The publisher, F.S. Ellis, produced a very small run of The Acropolis of Athens in
London in 1870. Its large size and the beautiful composition of the photographs
caused many people to remove pages for framing. Occasionally, single
photographs from the book appear in antiques stores and on Ebay. Today, there are
only a dozen institutions in the world with this book in their rare book collections:
Harvard, Cornell, Dartmouth, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and a scattering
of other libraries and museums in this country.
It is so exciting that the Parthenon owns a copy of this wonderful book! However,
the book does have some problems. The spine of the book has been cut off and the
pages are loose. (The fact that we have every page of the book is wondrous!) The
beautiful green cover with gold lettering is sooty. The book’s pages are acidifying,
meaning that the paper is brittle and discolored, and if the problem is not arrested,
the book will succumb to decay. So with the support of a donor, we have taken
the book for restoration and conservation. It is expected to return in March and we
hope to create an exhibit around it at some point in the future.
Who was John Thomas?
Have you often walked in Centennial Park and
wondered about the various statues scattered
throughout? Some have identifiers on their bases:
inscriptions detailing who is being honored and
what organization erected the monument. But
who in the world was John Thomas and why was he
honored with such an elaborate monument? The
brief legend on the east side of the statue doesn’t tell
us much more than the barest outline.
John W. Thomas was born in Nashville on August 24, 1830. He was educated by Alfred
Hume, known as the “father” of Nashville public schools. In 1851 he graduated first
in his class from Union University in Murfreesboro and worked there as a tutor for
three years before opening a hotel in that same city. He was first exposed to the
railroad business as manager of Murfreesboro’s railroad hotel. During the Civil War he
was a railroad agent and demonstrated such loyalty and ability, safely managing the
company’s rolling stock and materials during the conflict, that he was promoted to
Auditor and Paymaster of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad in 1865.
The railroad expanded, becoming the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway in
1873, and Thomas’ responsibilities grew with it, from General Superintendent (1872),
to General Manager (1883) and finally to President (1884). He held this position until
his death in 1906 and under his leadership the railway grew to 1,226 miles of track.
His leadership, fairness, accuracy and attention to detail earned him the respect and
affection of both employees and fellow businessmen, and he brought these same
characteristics and dedication to the Tennessee Centennial Exposition when he was
unanimously elected its President in 1895.
It is felt by many historians that the financial success of the Exposition (in contrast to
most other such expositions) was due almost entirely to Thomas’ careful stewardship.
Several years after the conclusion
of the Exposition, the grounds were
acquired by Nashville’s fledgling Parks
Department and became Centennial
Park. John Thomas died in 1906 and his
employees at the Railway funded this
monument in his honor. It was unveiled
in 1907 and still stands as a testament
to Mr. Thomas and a reminder of his
contribution to the Exposition and to
the city of Nashville. Its restoration in
2009 was funded through the efforts
of The Conservancy for the Parthenon
and Centennial Park with funding from
descendents of John Thomas.
In the Galleries....
Hidden Gems: A History of
Collecting at the Parthenon
February 20 - June 12, 2010
The Parthenon is pleased to
announce the return of an
exhibition of artwork from its
permanent collection. Hidden
Gems tells the story of art
collecting at the Parthenon,
which has its roots in the 1897
Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
At that time, the Parthenon not
only represented Nashville, it also served as the Fine Arts Building
for the Exposition.
While it is best known today for its exact replication of the ancient
Greek temple, the Parthenon is also home to a small but strong
collection of fine art. This exhibition seeks to emphasize the
Parthenon’s role as the city’s first art museum.
Hidden Gems includes paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture,
with examples by Sara Ward Conley, architect of the Woman’s
Building for the 1897 Exposition; Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer,
a portrait painter who worked in Nashville in the first half of the
twentieth century; and local sculptor Sylvia Hyman.
Cartagena Memories: Paintings by Jorge A. Yances
March 6 - June 26, 2010
Paintings by Nashville artist Jorge A. Yances are on exhibit in
the museum’s West Gallery. The oil on canvas series Cartagena
Memories records images of this historic and colorful place and the
people who live there.
“Cartagena is a very old city, founded in 1533. It has been attacked
often with much bloodshed over the centuries. Jorge Yances
records the urban memory buried in the old stones. His work is
very appealing, especially because within the intricate details,
new images appear,” says
Parthenon Curator, Susan
Shockley.
Yances has been painting since
he was a young boy. Largely
self-taught, he has created
a lavish technique, using
color and detail to express
the vitality of the scenes and
people he paints.
Conservancy Staff
Sylvia Feldman, President
Angie Nichols, Business Manager
Ex-Officio
Stan Fossick, Park Board Chair
Roy Wilson, Metro Parks Director
Jacky Akbari
Amy Lee Bell
Beth Courtney
Daivd Ewing
Beth Fortune
Jay Hardcastle
Rob Harwell
Demetria Kalodimos
Elizabeth Nichols
Reavis Mitchell
Ben Page
Anne Roos
Shirley Speyer
Butch Spyridon
Barbara Tsakirgis
The Board
Nashville Metro Government
PO Box 196300
Nashville TN 37219-6300
Executive Committee
Hope Stringer, Board Chair
Ben Armistead
Emme Baxter
Frannie Corzine
Albie Del Favero
Trish Lindler
Kenneth Kraft
Board of Directors
The Conservancy
Symposium - 7 pm , March 23, 2010
A Corinthian Hydra: The Fountain
of Peirene Lost and Found
In 1898, the American School of Classical
Studies discovered the Peirene Fountain
in Corinth. Not only had they found one
of the most famous fountains of antiquity,
but by putting Peirene on the map, they knew exactly where to dig for Corinth’s
ancient center. Peirene itself was monumental, with high walls, decorative
arches, and a vast network of rock-cut tunnels, which still supplied drinking
water to the local population. Prone to flooding and contamination, however, it
demanded frequent attention from the archaeologists over several decades.
Dr. Betsey Robinson, Associate Professor of History of Art and Classical Studies at
Vanderbilt, will explore the history of the fountain’s excavation. As told through
journals, letters, and photographs, Peirene’s modern history offers unique
insights into ancient waterworks, and a truthful mirror of America’s early efforts
in classical archaeology. Jointly sponsored by the Classical Studies Department
of Vanderbilt University and the Conservancy for the Parthenon and Centennial
Park, the lecture will take place at the Parthenon, with a reception following.
Admission is free, but reservations are required (862-8431).