Musica - Controversy

Controversy

The work was controversial due to its depiction of nudity, although according to LeQuire the work is entirely tasteful and not at all sexualized.

One television commentator, Larry Brinton, referred to the statue constantly as "the naked statue" after its unveiling. Others expressed even stronger disapproval. "It seems quite hypocritical to me that, in a nation like ours, naked statues paid for by private money can be displayed on public land but a copy of the Ten Commandments paid for by private funds could not," said Jerry Sutton, former pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. Sutton and others called unsuccessfully for removal of the statue from public view.

Proponents of the statue were equally vehement in its defense. Columnist, Gail Kerr of The Tennessean wrote, "It's art. But naked art, predictably, has some people all upset. I'm not sure why really. We've already got naked statues." She urged bemused indifference to the current controversy. "If you have such a peculiar fetish for bronze that fondling Musica's tambourine will be simply irresistible, just steer clear of the roundabout. Otherwise, don't get your toga in a wad."

On Saint Patrick's Day, 2010, a local music group, the Willis Clan, and a group of friends, clothed the statues in oversized Celts|Celtic kilts and blouses they had made for the event, in what one local news source described as an "epic" prank. 2011 was the second year the ritual was performed. Unfortunately the wind that day was particularly violent; the statues had to be reclothed multiple times to keep from exposing anything explicit. The sculpture occasionally adorns other trinkets, such as t-shirts supporting the Nashville Predators during playoff runs, as well as runners' bibs during the Country Music Marathon.