NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For a few years at the turn of this century, Nashville was home to a remarkable carousel. Described by its artist-creator Red Grooms as a sculpto-pictorama, the “horses” were 36 whimsical figures related to Tennessee. Legendary country musician Chet Atkins rode the neck of a guitar. Davy Crockett wrestled a bear. You could even ride a chigger, a summer mite that latches onto ankles causing an intense itch. The Tennessee Fox Trot Carousel was magical but was perhaps in the wrong place at the wrong time, perched on the riverfront at the edge of downtown Nashville when the area was up-and-coming but not quite the tourist draw of today. When it could no longer support itself financially, the carousel was disassembled and given over to the care of the Tennessee State Museum, which placed it in a storage facility where it sits to this day.Now, more than 20 years later, momentum is building for the carousel to ride again.
A carousel that has lived in memory longer than it was in operationTennessee State Museum Executive Director Ashley Howell says the question she most commonly hears from the public is: “What about the Red Grooms carousel?”The museum was planning a grand new building when it took custody of the ride, but it didn’t create an area for the carousel due to a lack of funds, Howell said. The new museum opened in downtown Nashville in 2018 with a retrospective of Grooms’ work but no carousel. In November, the museum put out feelers for private parties interested in “partnering with the Museum in the restoration, placement, and operation of the Red Grooms Fox Trot Carousel.”
