Yahoo Finance A new Dolly Parton mural in Nashville features her Black Lives Matter quote
Dolly Parton fans across the country are marveling at a new mural that pays tribute not just to the Queen of Country, but also to the Black Lives Matter movement.
A bare wall at the 5 Spot in Nashville, Tennessee is now adorned with the smiling face of Parton, along with a viral comment she told Billboard last week.
"I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen," Parton said in the interview. "And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white (expletive) are the only ones that matter? No!”
Nashville-based painter and muralist Kim Radford was commissioned to create the mural after a previous plan fell through at a downtown honky-tonk. She posted the idea to depict Parton to the East Nashville Facebook group and heard from The 5 Spot soon after. The music venue was made famous for being one of the many filming locations for the TV show “Nashville.”
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Radford said as soon as she started the mural, people stopped, immediately recognized who it was and expressed excitement over the new art.
"Dolly has that legacy of decades of positivity, of strength for women, as a singer, a songwriter, a businesswoman," Radford said in an interview with the Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Parton's quote in Billboard landed just as Radford was finishing the mural, so she decided to work it into the final design. She quickly added the quote to the top of the mural, replacing part of the curse word with butterflies and soon enough, pictures started spreading on social media. The mural features cascading waves of Parton’s signature high-volume blond hair surrounded by butterflies and wildflowers.
Radford said she saw it as a testament to how Parton brings together people of every race, gender and walk of life.
"It’s like it pokes a hole in all of the frenzy," Radford said. "There’s a lot of political friction in the air, and she kind of just decompresses it, once again, like Dolly can do. The timing’s just dreamy.”
Parton fans have taken to social media to express their excitement for the new tourist destination.
"a mural i can really stand behind," wrote Instagram user @kelbyyyrae. "or in front of."
"New mural in Nashville I need to go see!" wrote Instagram user @c.u.r.r.i.e.m.c.
a mural i can really stand behind. or in front of.
A post shared by Kelby (@kelbyyyrae) on Aug 15, 2020 at 1:17pm PDT
"Paid tribute to the queen today," Instagram user @kimberlykauer captioned a picture of the mural.
A post shared by The 5 Spot (@the5spotnashville) on Aug 14, 2020 at 4:02pm PDT
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Now less than a week old, the mural has become a hot spot for tourists visiting Music City to get a selfie. Radford herself got stopped by Dolly fans in front of the mural to pose for pictures.
Radford's work can be seen around the Nashville area and the South. She recently finished a 50-foot mural in Huntsville, Alabama, celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, granted by the 19th Amendment. She also has upcoming murals of music artists that will be featured at Grimey's in Nashville and another 19th Amendment mural at a to-be-determined location in Nolensville.
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Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dolly Parton's new Nashville mural features Black Lives Matter quote
