Art in Public Places

Edward Ward Carmack Statue

© 2001 Metro Nashville Gov't. Gary Layda.

Type

Sculpture

Medium

Bronze with brown patina on granite base.

Dimensions

Sculpt.: 10x3x2; bse: 4x6x6; lower: 4x20x30 ft

Subject

A full length standing portrait of Edward Ward Carmack, editor of the Tennessean newspaper, a U.S. senator, and a temperance leader. Carmack was shot to death in 1908 by political rivals. Carmack wears formal dress including a knee-length coat, vest, and tie. His proper right foot is slightly forward. He has a moustache and looks straight ahead. He stands atop a granite base with a curved front, stepped bottom, exedra and flower planter behind the sculpture.

Marks

(On front of granite base:) Carmack (Tennessee State seal) 1796 (On bronze plinth:) Nancy Cox-McCormack/Rome 1924 signed.

Condition

Surveyed 1992 February. Well maintained. Guano on sculpture. Guano on base. Brown staining and dirt on base. Flower planter on base at back of sculpture has been filled in with cement.

Owner

State of Tennessee, General Services Dept.

Location

State Capitol Grounds
Nashville TN

Placement

Exterior

Public Space

Yes

Bibliography

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Tennessee survey, 1992.
Nashville Banner (Nashville, TN), July 22, 1982, pg. A1, A16.

Remarks

Inscription on nearby marker reads: CARMACK'S/PLEDGE TO THE SOUTH/THE SOUTH IS A LAND THAT HAS KNOWN/SORROWS; IT IS A LAND THAT HAS/BROKEN THE ASHEN CRUST AND/MOISTENED IT WITH TEARS; A LAND/SCARRED AND RIVEN BY THE PLOWSHARE/OF WAR AND BELLOWED WITH THE GRAVES/OF HER DEAD; BUT A LAND OF LEGEND./A LAND OF SONG, A LAND OF HALLOWED/AND HEROIC MEMORIES./TO THAT LAND EVERY DROP OF MY BLOOD,/EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING, EVERY PULS-/ATION OF MY HEART, IS CONSECRATED/FOREVER./I WAS BORN OF HER WOMB; I WAS/NURTURED AT HER BREAST; AND WHEN/MY LAST HOUR SHALL COME, I PRAY/GOD THAT I MAY BE PILLOWED UPON/HER BOSOM AND ROCKED TO SLEEP/WITHIN HER TENDER AND ENCIRCLING ARMS./THIS TABLET PLACED HERE BY THE W.C.T.U. IAS files contain related articles from Nashville Banner grounds by the Women's Christian Temperence Union.

Record last updated

15 January 2010

© 2009 Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission 800 2nd Avenue South, 4th Floor P.O. Box 196300 Nashville TN 37219-6300	arts@nashville.gov (615) 862-6720 fax (615) 862-6731
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