Nashville taxpayers to put up $750G for Californian’s stick art

Nashville taxpayers will pay $750,000 so an abstract artist from California can construct large colored sticks and place them partially upright on display near the Music City Center downtown.

The Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission made the announcement in a press release last week.

Tennessee Watchdog contacted Metro Arts Executive Director Jennifer Cole in an attempt to ask two primary questions.

The first question had to do with how, exactly, the benefits of this project outweigh the cost to taxpayers. For that question, Cole referred to Mayor Karl Dean's office. Dean spokeswoman Bonna Johnson, however, was unavailable to speak Monday.

The second question for Cole had to do with why, exactly, city officials are spending such a large sum of money to pay an out-of-state artist? Tennessee's economy, as we pointed out, seemingly won't benefit if no state residents are working on the project.

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