Elder Heart Sculpture is Up Public Art for Healing and Awareness
~ by Jeff Tryon
Public art has always been about making a statement, creating a space to gather, and starting a conversation.
The new towering leaf sculpture named“ Soaring” in the courtyard next to the Visitors Center at the heart of downtown Nashville is not only a calling card for a town built on the annual nature show of autumn leaves, it makes a statement about the value of art to heal and to inform— of cooperation between artists, various community interests, and wounded warriors.
The sculpture is the product of a non-profit group called Elder Heart which empowers veterans through the experience of creating public, private, and corporate art. Elder Heart, the brainchild of Magnus Johnson, a Green Beret veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, seeks to build awareness about veterans’ concerns such as the high number of suicides and VA backlogs. photo by Sara Dawdy
“ It is false to think that the pain of war is a veteran’ s problem. It is a cultural and human problem that affects everyone.”
— Magnus Johnson, Elder Heart
16 Our Brown County • July / August 2014