Joining Forces to Create a Greener Nashville

An art exhibit and fundraiser opening Thursday at Shelby Bottoms Nature Center grew out of a cooperative community effort to restore and expand tiny Lockeland Springs Park in East Nashville after it was heavily damaged by a tornado in March 2020.

The Chestnut Group, a local society of plein air painters, has created paintings of scenes in the park to include in “Speaking for the Trees/Lockeland Springs Art Show & Sale.” The exhibit is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7 to Sunday, April 10. The art show provides supporters with a way to take home a beautiful piece of art that captures a snapshot in time of this fragile urban green space.

Close to half of the proceeds from sales at the show will support the Nashville Tree Conservation Corps and Friends of Shelby Park in their efforts to remove invasive species and restore native trees. Funds from the show will also go toward creating an operational endowment for the newly formed Friends of Lockeland Springs Park.

“We want to inspire Nashville neighborhoods to preserve their trees and parks by harnessing the synergy found in Nashville’s creative nonprofit community to achieve goals,” said Judson Newbern, president of the Chestnut Group and board member of NTCC.

When Nashville Tree Conservation Corps volunteers began replanting trees in the small park off Woodland Street in 2020, it was discovered that six acres of land they assumed was part of the park was actually land available for development. Opportunity knocked when a couple from Chicago bought the property and agreed to sell four of the six acres to Metro Parks if funds could be raised. The four acres are immediately adjacent to Lockeland Springs Park and would expand the park to connect into the larger Shelby Park and Bottoms.

A coalition of neighborhood volunteers, local nonprofits, the statewide TennGreen Land Conservancy and the national Trust for Public Land organization came together to meet the fundraising challenge to acquire the 4-acre property and convey it to Metro Parks. The deal carried a price tag of $1.6 million, including an endowment for ongoing stewardship of the land. The Trust for Public Land helped the neighborhood raise half the money quickly, and Metro agreed to match the other half.

By gaining broad-based support from Nashville’s sustainability and conservation foundations, government and corporations, the community was able to leverage the long-term success of Lockeland Springs Park and others like it throughout our city for the greener good.

Mayor John Cooper will speak at the show’s opening reception on Thursday, April 6 to recognize those involved in securing these new acres and call attention to the importance of land preservation and protective tree measures.

For more information on the show, please visit: https://www.friendsofshelby.org/artshow

To help preserve and enhance Lockeland Springs Park, consider joining the new friends group or making a donation.