Red Grooms carousel seeking new home — still needs $1M in repairs

There was a time when you could ride on a guitar with a life-sized figure of Chet Atkins, or on top of a giant Goo Goo Cluster, on a carousel in downtown Nashville.

But the Tennessee Fox Trot Carousel has been in storage since 2003. In the meantime, interest in its return has remained high, and the Tennessee State Museum has now taken one step toward getting it back into action.

The carousel in question was created by the whimsical Nashville native and world-renowned artist Red Grooms. He’s known for colorful and cartoonish scenes from modern day life, which made him the ideal person to create a Tennessee-themed carousel downtown.

The carousel had 36 fiberglass characters from Tennessee history. Some are obvious, like The Everly Brothers and Andrew Jackson, but there are some deeper cuts like Wilma Rudolph, the Black sprinter from Clarksville who overcame polio to medal in the 1956 Olympic games.

The carousel spun downtown from 1998 to 2003 and then went into storage. It has been at the state museum, where leaders are aiming to bring it back into working order. They recently learned that it would cost between $870,000 and $1,070,000 to restore the carousel and get it back up and running.

Still, the museum would need to find a home for the restored carousel. Officials say there are several interested parties.

Chas Sisk WPLN

The Tennessee Foxtrot Carousel, a work by the Nashville-born artist Red Grooms, has been in storage since 2003.

David Lusk, whose gallery represents Red Grooms, is among those rooting for the carousel’s return.

“Nashville has a world-class artist-created interactive and educational piece by a Nashville native that needs to be ridden, seen, studied and admired by another generation,” Lusk told WPLN News. “Bring back The Carousel!”