The Recording Angel (2006) by Audrey Flack, Nashville, Ghid vizitatori și ce de văzut în apropiere

The Recording Angel (2006) is a public sculpture by the American artist Audrey Flack at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville. It sits at the home of the Nashville Symphony, so a piece of contemporary art and a major concert hall share one address in Music City.

The story behind it

Audrey Flack, born in New York in 1931, first became known for photorealist painting in the 1970s and later turned to large-scale sculpture. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center opened in 2006 and was designed by architect David M. Schwarz in a classical style. It is named for Kenneth Schermerhorn, the longtime music director of the Nashville Symphony. The recording angel itself is an old figure from religious and folk tradition, a winged being who writes down human deeds, and it is an easy image to link with a place devoted to music.

The streets around the hall carry a wider story. In 1960, students from Fisk University, Tennessee State University and other colleges held organized sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in downtown Nashville. They trained in workshops on nonviolent resistance, and many were harassed and arrested but kept returning. Their campaign became a model for civil rights protest across the South.

What to look for

• Look at the winged figure itself and how its pose and surface catch the light, then walk around it to see how it reads from different sides.
• Notice how the sculpture relates to the classical lines and columns of the Schermerhorn facade behind it.
• Read any plaque or label nearby to confirm the title, the artist and the date, 2006, the same year the hall opened.
• Think about the idea of a recording angel, a keeper of record, and why an artist might choose it for a concert hall.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 10 to 15 minutes for the sculpture and the building exterior, and more if you plan to look at the surrounding blocks.
• Daylight is best for seeing the details of the figure and the facade, while evenings suit a concert night when the area is busy.
• If you want to go inside the hall, check current opening hours and the event schedule before you come.
• The Country Music Hall of Fame, the lower Broadway honky-tonks and the downtown sites of the 1960 sit-ins are all within a reasonable walk.

See it on a quest

Playing The Oz Escape in Nashville brings you to the Recording Angel on foot as one stop of a longer route through downtown. The app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Nashville is a good fit if you prefer a mystery theme. You reach the sculpture as part of the walk, hear about it when you get there, and solve a puzzle in front of it. One ticket covers the whole group.

The Oz Escape: A Wicked Glitch in Nashville is another way to see the sculpture and its neighbourhood. It is self-guided, so you start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join. One ticket covers the whole group.