Clarksville, TN – Ricky Cavaness says he has been painting for about twenty years but has been doodling and drawing since he was a little kid. You might have seen one of his latest works, a mural entitled Last Train to Clarksville, adoring a support structure under the pedestrian bridge crossing Commerce Street.
The mural depicts train 0831-1968 bursting through the wall, and at the official unveiling, attended by dozens of officials as well as local supporters of art and history, Cavaness hung painted rocks in front of the image to give it a 3-D effect.
So, how does a project like this come to be? Where does it start, and how long does it take? This one started with well-known local photographer David Smith, who also happens to sit on the board of Clarksville’s Arts & Heritage Development Council.
“This goes back at least six years,” Smith said. “We had approved the Starry Night mural when I was on Montgomery County’s Clean, Green, and Save Committee. We wanted to do more like it as a way to attract more people downtown. That pedestal was just bare.”
Cavaness was recommended to Smith. The two came up with a loose idea of what the mural would look like, but the project got put on the back burner for a while.
“Ricky was gracious enough to stick with us during all the delays,” Smith said. “I talked to Clarksville City Council members and got some interest. Dr. Ellen Kanervo and Arts & Heritage agreed to pay for it. We had Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts on board, then met with Jennifer Letourneau from Clarksville Parks and Recreation.”
With all the approvals finally in place, Smith said he was able to turn Ricky loose last summer and let him get the long-awaited project underway.
Smith clarifies, “This mural is not about the song by the Monkees. We didn’t want the comparison, and people telling us ‘the song isn’t about Clarksville’. So, if you look at the top of the mural, you’ll see 08 31 1968. That’s the date the last train came through the Clarksville station.
“Although, there have been articles with Micky Dolenz saying it was about Clarksville and its relationship to Fort Campbell. I think he would know. Anyway, I think Ricky did a fantastic job. I gave him a picture and an idea, and he ran with it. It evolved significantly over the five years since the idea was conceived.”
Smith says he and AHDC are now working on an idea for the water tank in Valleybrook Park. “Folks at Parks & Recreation wants to do a ‘pollinator’ scene. We’ve all met an have an idea of what they want to do. We will get the numbers back and see if it’s feasible.
“This is another park we can put a spotlight on, and by adding something interesting and new, make it a place to go. We’re going to incorporate the official TN reptiles, flowers and trees, butterflies and birds. We want to make it interactive. We’ll put those things in the mural, and let people come by and find them.
Cavaness says he has been doing larger-scale items, like murals for about ten years. “They’ve been more consistent over the last couple of years,” Cavaness continued. “I’ve probably done ten over the years. I’ve done them in Texas and Florida and a few here in town, sadly a couple of them have been painted over. They don’t all last forever.
“David came to me about six years ago. The project was in the works but kept being put on hold. We were waiting on approvals and sponsorships and all those things. He fought pretty hard to keep it going.
“The design didn’t change that much. My interpretation of the original mock-up changed quite a bit, but the idea was always for the train to burst out of the wall. I just thought that would be really cool.”
Cavaness likes to start the process by touching the wall to familiarize himself with the surfaces, the finishes, and the challenges they will present.
“This surface had never been sealed,” Cavaness said. “There was algae and moss growing on it. It was a process to clean it, prime it, and get it ready to paint. I started in May and finished in November. My girlfriend Chloe Ficklin helped quite a bit.”
The artist says he is still working on some ideas for finishing touches.
“Yeah, it’s still a work in progress,” Cavaness said. “Everybody’s talking about it. It has been really cool. It has gotten me a different demographic of customers. I’m a full-time tattoo artist. Now I’m hearing from people who say ‘I saw your wall’ or ‘I saw you on the news’. It has been really cool hearing from all these new people.
“As an artist, I can always find something to change on a piece, but I’m super happy with Last Train. At some point with big-scale work, you have to decide what looks good from the street and what looks good from three feet away. My favorite parts are the details that you only see up close. For sure, this won’t be my last one.”
The good new is Smith and Cavaness both acknowledge that there are more ideas in the works. Smith has found new leads for big projects, and Cavaness has had half a dozen quote requests for murals around town.
“We think that creating more art at locations throughout downtown will bring people down, and we want them to stay,” Smith said. “We want them to frequent the shops and restaurants and be curious about our city. That’s why we did the Clarksville Then & Now project. It’s another way for people to be engaged with downtown.”
To see what Ricky’s up to, go to his website www.Rickycavaness.com or find him on Instagram @iputketchuponmyketchup
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