Jen Todd

jtodd1@tennessean.com

Arts, safety and transportation will go hand in hand in the revitalization of Nolensville Pike, at least if community members are successful.

It's an effort Nashville Area Metro Planning Organization's Rochelle Carpenter calls "creative placemaking," or "to engage artists who know how to work with people, to inspire and document ideas and concerns that people are having in their community and design transportation projects that reflect those ideas and concerns that people have in their community."

Community members revealed plans Tuesday for the Southeast Nashville corridor at Casa Azafran, in conjunction with Transportation for America, the Nashville Area MPO and the Nashville Civic Design Center.

All while a photo art project occurred outside.

For the last two years, the community has held labs asking questions about the needs of the neighborhood and the challenges it faces. Participants of many ages and cultural backgrounds shared their priorities, including safety, transit, biking and walking space, beautification and preservation of the multi-cultural character of the area.

"The most important is the public safety because there is some part of the Nolensville Road area that doesn't have sidewalks," said Sheyla Paz, who participated in Oz Arts Nashville's "Inside Out" project after the reveal. "So there is a lot of people being hit on the road, or just stand forever waiting for someone to give them the right to cross the street. No. 2 is public transportation like rapid transit that we've been talking about forever."

A truck printed out a large photo of Paz that would soon be pasted on the side wall of the building.

"It's meant to be a beautiful, giant mural of faces of Nashville and of our neighborhood," said Renata Soto, co-founder of Conexion Americas.

The mural faces what will become a park in the future.

During the process of gathering community input for Nolensville Pike, the Nashville Civic Design Center also took photos of the corridor and designed what it could look like. The results were colorful crosswalks, creative bus shelters, and even a roundabout installed at the Harding Place intersection, which also has tunnels for pedestrians to safely cross the streets.

Mayor Megan Barry applauded the tunnels idea.

"I think as we make our streets more colorful, more vibrant, more lively, that also can reflect the ethnic heritages we see along this corridor and that's also real exciting," Barry said.

Nashvillians can see the "Inside Out" project while driving down the road. The art will last for one to three years, weather depending.

"They said, 'The more the merrier,'" said Matthew Sullivan, who wanted to do a group photo with his children, but instead took individual photos. "I love that. That's kind of the spirit of the place."

Reach Jen Todd at 615-313-2760 or on Twitter @jentoddwrites.

Video: Oz Arts Fest kicks off with Inside Out Project