‘Ghost Ballet’ Unveiled

Today Nashville dedicated “GHOST BALLET FOR THE EAST BANK MACHINEWORKS,” the first project completed under Nashville’s public art program.

Made of sprawling steel arcs, reaching 100 feet into the air and weighing 12 tons, GHOST BALLET serves as a symbolic union between the once-industrialized east side and the arts-influenced west side.

The work was funded under the Percent for Public Art Ordinance. The arts-funding bill was the first piece of legislation introduced by Mayor Purcell to the metro council back in 1999.

After a nationwide competition was held for submissions, Alice Aycock, a world-renowned artist from New York, was selected to design the sculpture.

Mary Ellen Laghmer from the Watkins College of Art and Design attended today’s dedication. She said she’s glad to see the sculpture go up.

“I really want to support public art in Nashville and I love this piece. I think there’s a lot of movement in the piece. It also brings in the industrial background of the east bank, and it faces the other side so it brings the west bank in. I think when they get the lights on it, too, it’s going to be very visually exciting.”

The Metro Arts Commission plans to light the sculpture on a nightly basis. They expect to have the lights up within a month.