Documentary spotlights one of West Tennessee’s memorable sculptures

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — If you like large attractions, then this community has just the thing for you.

The Mindfield sculpture is a main attraction in the City of Brownsville.

Standing over 130 feet tall, this metal artwork has been in the works since 1989.

We spoke to Sonia Outlaw-Clark, the director of Visit Brownsville Tennessee, who had so much to say about the sculpture and the artist.

“We’re really fortunate that another local creative, Randall Kendrick from Brownsville, Tennessee, who is a videographer now and did a documentary on the Mindfield and the artist,” Clark said.

Billy Tripp is the artist that created this great sculpture.

“Billy is a hometown boy and this is a documentary about his work,” said Clark. “His work has certainly put us on the map worldwide. People recognize the Mindfield and come here specifically to see the sculpture.”

Sometimes you may still see Billy hanging around.

“You can go by there and see Billy working on it at any given time, and so it’s always adventurous to locals and visitors to see what’s going on on that property. It’s on our Main Street,” Clark said.

Clark stated that Brownsville also has something else to celebrate.

“This is our Bicentennial year,” Clark said. “Brownsville is celebrating 200 years of charter, and what better way to celebrate Brownsville than the hometown for the premier of the documentary.”

The premier will be February 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ann Marks Performing Arts Center.

“We want all of West Tennessee to come out and see the documentary, to hear Randall talk about the process of filming Billy and talking to Billy about creating the documentary, and there will be a special q and a following the screening.”

Clark stated that Tripp is allowed to continue building on this sculpture as long as he wants.

Click here to see the trailer for “The Steel Garden.”

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