Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D., right, at the ceremony for the sculpture Citizen's with, from left, Jared McGowan, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and sculptor Thomas Sayre. (photo by Gary Layda)
Kennedy Center investigator honored at sculpture unveiling
Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigator, accepted an invitation from Mayor Karl Dean to assist with the inaugural “turning of the wheel” to activate the sculpture Citizen’s arm at the piece’s June 10 unveiling.
The two sculptures, dedicated by the Metro Arts Commission on the Public Square Park at the historic Metro Courthouse, honor Nashville's citizens throughout history, including volunteers who worked to help others recover from the recent flood.
Stanwood was singled out by the Mayor's Office of Recovery as one of three 'regular citizens having done extraordinary things' for flood recovery for his efforts helping residents in the Bellevue and Tennessee State University areas. He also did volunteer work for Hands On Nashville.
“It is fitting, as we dedicate this new public art called ‘Citizen,” that we celebrate what it means to be a citizen of Nashville,” Dean said.
“Over the past six weeks, I have seen so many examples of Nashville citizens who opened their arms and their hearts to help those fellow Nashvillians who need help. As our lives have changed since the first weekend in May, the one thing we could count on was each other and the giving, caring community that we live in. We should all be so very proud to be citizens of Nashville, Tennessee.”
North Carolina artist Thomas Sayre, who created the glass-and-steel sculpture, said the design pays tribute to Nashville leaders pointing the way, from founders James Robertson and John Donelson pointing to the riverbank home of the first fort in Nashville to the Fisk and Tennessee A&I University students who pointed the way to Civil Rights reform when they stated their position on desegregation to then-Mayor Ben West.