Story by Karen Parr-Moody

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The L&N Train Station, which has played a significant role in Clarksville throughout its history, is now home to a new group called — wait for it — the Train Station Painters. And within the train station’s historic walls, the group has established an art gallery.

On a recent Tuesday, two of its members swirled their paintbrushes into glasses of water then dabbed them onto watercolor paper, repeating this meditative motion over and over.

They were Patsy Sharpe, the group’s founder, and Hilda Waide, who have been meeting there weekly to paint for several months. The other members include Richard Hogan, Janet Felts, Eunice Kern and Polly Elliott.

The group meets Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon in the station, which was built in 1901 and is located at the corner of 10th Street and Commerce Street.
The room in which they paint each week is called the community room. It was recently decorated with the colorful works of artists from HAPI, a group for people dealing with mental health challenges.

In the future, the community room will host high school student art shows through a program organized the Clarksville Arts & Heritage Council, a non-profit organization that allows the Train Station Painters to meet at the station. Ellen Kanervo is its executive director.

The other room is a large gallery space in which the Train Station Painters will rotate their work each month.

“It’s beautiful,” Sharpe said of the train station. “It has lots of wall space and there’s lots of free, easy parking. We have the museum hangers and rods. It just lends itself well to an art gallery format.”

The train station is also rented for parties and weddings, so when those events occur, Sharpe said, “There’s art on the walls for that, rather than just bare walls.”

The Train Station Painters will have its official opening of the gallery with a Saturday afternoon reception in February, on a date yet to be determined. Currently guests may view the painters’ works, which are for sale, every Tuesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Juried memberships are available for artists working at an advanced level. The group also plans to host painting workshops for the public at the station.

For more information call Sharpe at 931-647-5317.